As King Charles took his seat for the King’s Speech in Parliament, he appeared to get a little frustrated with a page boy tending to his robes in the House of Lords.
The monarch, 75, abruptly pulled back his hand when his regalia was being tended to by a page boy trying to sort out the garments properly, but the King took matters into his own hands as he smoothed out the material.
A close-up image of the King shows a scrutinising Charles eager to sort out his attire. The undoubtedly heavy material seemed to fluster the young boy, but after the interaction, the King shared a smile with Queen Camilla who was sitting by his side.
After witnessing the interaction, royal fans on social media were quick to defend the King. One wrote: “I think he was just trying to flick it over himself, people could find an agenda in anything.”
Whereas another fan said: “This is a non story… you can clearly hear him say ‘thank you’ to the boys as he moves the robe.”
Another commented on the interaction with the page boys: “..You can clearly hear the King say thank you in a very kind way. He appears to be trying to assist his page boys.”
The State Opening of Parliament took place in the House of Lords chamber earlier today on the first day of the new parliamentary session almost two weeks after the election which saw Sir Keir Starmer be elected Prime Minister.
In total around £4.1 billion worth of jewels were worn, including some of the Royal Family’s most recognisable pieces such as the Imperial State Crown. The King wore the same crown previously worn by Queen Elizabeth II during her own State Opening speeches, and also worn by Charles during his Coronation ceremony.
The Imperial State Crown is made up of gold, silver and platinum and is decorated with 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires and 11 emeralds.
It can be worn on other occasions however and carries a great deal of royal history with it, as the St Edward’s Sapphire, set in the centre of the crown’s highest cross, is thought to date back to the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Queen Camilla, however, wore the iconic diamond diadem, best recognised as the tiara worn by the late Queen Elizabeth on the British stamp design from 1953-1971.
The diadem comprises 1,333 brilliant-cut diamonds, meaning they are cut in such a way with many facets to reflect their sparkle. The Queen’s headpiece also features a four-carat yellow diamond at the front and the national emblems of the thistle, shamrock and rose incorporated into the design.
The speech read by King Charles introduced 40 new Bills by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government which he hopes will be passed into law over the next year. It included many manifesto pledges, as well as some surprises. There were also a notable number of Bills that were introduced by Rishi Sunak’s Government, and that Labour agreed with, but which failed to pass into law before the election.
In the course of just 13 minutes, the King talked about bus service reforms, junk food advertising, the economy, workers’ rights and much more.