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Opinion

The Editors’ Debate: No – The Queen should NOT wear the Crown to the State Opening of Parliament

Following on from Desk Editor Lydia Starbuck’s opinion piece that The Queen should wear her crown for the State Opening of Parliament next week, Editor-in-Chief Charlie Proctor says the regalia should be left in the Tower of London where it belongs.

Imagine walking over to your 93-year-old grandmother and making her balance a shoe, a block of butter and a guinea pig on her head all at once. What an absurd suggestion I hear you cry! Yet, every year we expect our elderly Monarch to carry the equivalent amount of weight on her head during the State Opening of Parliament in the form of the Imperial Crown.

Although it looks rather nice and is a symbol of all things great, the crown does not need to worn during the State Opening of Parliament, nor do the robes and regalia.

If the crown is so important to people, I suppose it can can still be present (but not involved). The 2.5lb headpiece can be placed on a table besides the throne, or perhaps another royal, maybe Prince Andrew, can wear the crown to make him feel useful.

The Queen has served the country and the Commonwealth for almost 70 years – her comfort should come first, and I doubt eliminating the heavy crown from proceedings will mark the end of the monarchy.

Then of course there is the politics. What a shambles the 2017-19 Parliamentary session has been. Brexit chaos, an ousted Prime Minister and an unlawful prorogation. What better way to reward MPs for their efforts than to hold a flamboyant ceremonial event, with jewels and all.

I’m sure Jacob Rees-Mogg can hardly contain himself at the thought of The Queen turning up to Parliament on Monday with her crown. I’d personally much rather see Her Majesty turn up in her EU hat again with an amazing brooch for decoration, maybe a spider?

When The Queen visited London Zoo last year she did not wear her crown. Why should her visit to the Parliamentary zoo be any different? As long as she stays in the protected area and doesn’t feed the animals, all will be fine – crown or no crown.

What do you think? Do you agree with Charlie Proctor or Lydia Starbuck about The Queen and her crown? Comment below to let us know.