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KING Charles is due to give his King’s Speech today and the Black Rod will be sent from the Lord's Chamber to the Commons to summon MPs for the…

The ceremonial position plays a key part in the State Opening of Parliament

THE ceremonial State Opening of Parliament is replete with eye-wateringly expensive and occasionally bemusing pageantry.

King Charles III is preparing to deliver the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament

People have been queuing around the clock to pay their respects to Her Majesty, but the service had to come to a close as preparations for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II began.

In his first visit to Britain’s Parliament as monarch, King Charles III spoke of feeling the “weight of history which surrounds us” and referenced his “medieval predecessors” as he pledged to follow in his late mother Queen Elizabeth II’s footsteps and uphold the principles of constitutional monarchy

It is not quite true to suggest that the State Opening of Parliament is all style over substance. No doubt, there’s quite a lot of pomp and ceremony on display. Horse-drawn, gold-plated carriages, doors theatrically slammed in Black Rod’s face and ermine as far as the eye can bear.

The State Opening of Parliament was familiar but different, with the Queen absent for the first time in nearly 60 years.

Black Rod, a strange tradition in the Houses of Parliament, is about to feature heavily in today's Queen's Speech - but what is the role, who does it and what are the rituals surrounding it?