The Queen’s Speech has been delayed because the government are having trouble transcribing the text onto goatskin.
Every year, the speech is read out on goatskin parchment, however, it takes around a week for the ink to dry meaning amendments cannot be made.
As the Conservative Party are currently undertaking negotiations with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, the whole thing has had to be rewritten meaning it will take days for the ink to dry.
As a result of the delay, it is likely that Her Majesty will now miss part of Royal Ascot as the new date for The Queen’s Speech will probably overlap.
The Queen’s Speech was supposed to take place on Monday June 19 – a day before the week-long Royal Ascot meeting takes place. Her Majesty attends each year without fail and it is said that Royal Ascot is the first engagement to go in the Monarch’s diary each year because she enjoys it so much.
The delay means that Royal Ascot might be in jeopardy as the occasion takes place from Tuesday 20th June to Saturday 24th June.
It was thought that Her Majesty might have had some influence on setting the original date for the speech so she didn’t miss her favourite races of the year. The situation now seems uncertain.
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Well that just sucks.
So some poor goat has to die so that they can use its skin to write on and, oh dear, the ink won’t be dry! How barbaric and cruel and pathetically mediaeval. Such customs are outdated and immoral and not necessary. Who needs this ridiculous ritual?
It’s not a goat’s fault, unless they mean Theresa May. It’s her hubris in calling an election she couldn’t win, that’s where the blame goes. And yes, what a ridiculous and barbaric practice.
This (the use of goat parchment) has been denied by a former Houses of Parliament archivist/librarian.