Parliament Opened

At the huge Palace of Westminster, called the Houses of Parliament, the lords and mighty prelates of the Realm were sitting on benches of soft red morocco. The King and Queen were on their thrones--His Majesty bedight with "the ermine, the purple and the crown." Queen Mary's robe of cloth-of-silver, blazing with diamonds, betokened that the Court is no longer in mourning for the late Queen Alexandra./-

Peers sat robed in scarlet, gold and ermine. Justices were capped by wigs as large as beehives. Peeresses, for the first time, generally wore flexible diamond-studded bandeaux, instead of the old fashioned tiaras. Even Edward of Wales stood decorous in his place at the right of the throne. A moment earlier he had tripped over his own sword and almost sprawled. The picture seemed sufficiently magnificent, yet His Majesty sat waiting. The delay lengthened, grew in a few seconds to seem interminable. . . . Black Rod. That which delayed George V in opening Parliament was the absence of the plebeian members of the House of Commons. In another part of the Palace of Westminster they were dallying overlong with a ceremony of quaint historic significance. They were rebuffing the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. . . . Lieutenant General Sir William Pulteney, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., K.C.M. B., B.D.S.O., receives $1,000 per annum ($4,860) for acting as the Black Rod, and carrying it: a massive staff of ebony surmounted by a golden lion. Last week he was sent, as usual, to summon the Speaker and the Commons before the Lords. As he approached the Chamber of the Commons, unsmiling attendants closed the door, as usual, in his face. Thus was affirmed the right of Honorable Members to free speech, even at the displeasure of the Sovereign. Three times the Black Rod raised the Black Rod and struck the door of the Commons. "Who is there?" came the traditional question. "Black Rod!" cried Sir William. The door slowly opened. ... Advancing to Speaker the Rt. Hon. John Henry Whitley, the Black Rod cried: "Mr. Speaker, the King commands this Honorable House to attend His Majesty in the House of Lords!"

Since this mummery had been imperfectly timed last week, the Commons came scrambling after the Black Rod into the House of Lords with unseemly haste. Soon the Lord President of the Council, the Earl of Balfour, knelt and presented to His Majesty a scroll containing "The King's Speech." In clear, vibrant tones, distinctly audible to everyone, George V read what purported to be his own speech.

/-Queen Mary wore a jet black mourning gown when Parliament was last opened (TIME, Feb. 15. 1926).