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CNN Live At Daybreak
Queen Formally Opens New Session of Parliament
Aired November 13, 2002 - 06:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The Queen formally opening the new session of Parliament as she does every year. She has opened Parliament every year of her reign except 1959 and 1963 in fact. She's now sticking to the outline of the upcoming legislation.
David Clinch, back with me, our international editor on the -- on the international desk.
And, David, it's amazing to me that she gives this speech that really, as we have said before, was -- she didn't even prepare.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
CALLAWAY: That it was actually prepared by the Prime Minister's office.
CLINCH: That's correct. And you know as our Royal analyst was saying, you're in a situation now in the United Kingdom where you have a Labour government, a government that traditionally, when I was young you know, was quite anti-Royalist in many ways, or at least very much in favor of reducing the role of the -- of the Royal Family, certainly reducing the cost of the Royal Family. And you look at these events, and obviously they do cost a lot of money and the Royal Family costs a lot of money to maintain.
But again, I think as you see Tony Blair there, his government now very much a centrist government rather than left wing as they were traditionally and accepting and reveling in the image of the Royal Family as a symbol of Britain and Britain's past and present greatness.
So the speech, as you say, was not put together by the Queen, but it is even, by Labour government standards, important that it be her that reads this. And I suppose it might also make it more easy to hear some of the horrible things that are in the budget and that kind of thing...
CALLAWAY: Right.
CLINCH: ... if you hear them from the Queen.
CALLAWAY: From the Queen, right.
CLINCH: But you know usually I'm sitting here watching the speech while nobody else is paying any attention to it listening for some hint on a change in British policy on the -- on the euro or something like that. And you know now we're interested again, as I say, because of the scandals. But every year she comes out and she does this and every year she does her Christmas address and every year she does all of her Royal duties. And as our analyst was saying, it's and in some ways such a shame that she is involved in these scandals because...
CALLAWAY: And I know we have been talking a lot about the politics, as you are now,...
CLINCH: Yes.
CALLAWAY: ... but let's talk just this moment about the pageantry because it is incredible.
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: We've seen here now this beautiful crown that she's wearing, the Imperial State Crown. One of the biggest diamonds in the world...
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: ... in that crown, 317-carat diamond. And of course she's wearing her robe, the ceremonial robe.
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: And we saw that the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coach.
CLINCH: So many of these things relate to empire -- to empire. You know the diamond, a gift from South Africa as I remember it, you know at the time when it was part of the Empire. The coach she rode to the...
CALLAWAY: Irish State Coach.
CLINCH: ... to the thing, the Irish State Coach. I mean part of Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom,...
CALLAWAY: Right.
CLINCH: ... but as I can tell you authoritatively, the rest of it is not. But you know a lot of the pageantry and a lot of the symbols that the Queen uses relate to that image of empire, which of course now is really only an image.
But also you have to think about the Queen when you look at this pageantry. She is relatively an old lady at this point and yet she still has to sit there with this heavy crown on, the heavy robes, walk through, you know, the Houses of -- House of Lords and do this lengthy speech, but she performs it without question.
CALLAWAY: Flawlessly. Yes, and flawlessly.
All right. Thank you, David.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 13, 2002 - 06:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The Queen formally opening the new session of Parliament as she does every year. She has opened Parliament every year of her reign except 1959 and 1963 in fact. She's now sticking to the outline of the upcoming legislation.
David Clinch, back with me, our international editor on the -- on the international desk.
And, David, it's amazing to me that she gives this speech that really, as we have said before, was -- she didn't even prepare.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
CALLAWAY: That it was actually prepared by the Prime Minister's office.
CLINCH: That's correct. And you know as our Royal analyst was saying, you're in a situation now in the United Kingdom where you have a Labour government, a government that traditionally, when I was young you know, was quite anti-Royalist in many ways, or at least very much in favor of reducing the role of the -- of the Royal Family, certainly reducing the cost of the Royal Family. And you look at these events, and obviously they do cost a lot of money and the Royal Family costs a lot of money to maintain.
But again, I think as you see Tony Blair there, his government now very much a centrist government rather than left wing as they were traditionally and accepting and reveling in the image of the Royal Family as a symbol of Britain and Britain's past and present greatness.
So the speech, as you say, was not put together by the Queen, but it is even, by Labour government standards, important that it be her that reads this. And I suppose it might also make it more easy to hear some of the horrible things that are in the budget and that kind of thing...
CALLAWAY: Right.
CLINCH: ... if you hear them from the Queen.
CALLAWAY: From the Queen, right.
CLINCH: But you know usually I'm sitting here watching the speech while nobody else is paying any attention to it listening for some hint on a change in British policy on the -- on the euro or something like that. And you know now we're interested again, as I say, because of the scandals. But every year she comes out and she does this and every year she does her Christmas address and every year she does all of her Royal duties. And as our analyst was saying, it's and in some ways such a shame that she is involved in these scandals because...
CALLAWAY: And I know we have been talking a lot about the politics, as you are now,...
CLINCH: Yes.
CALLAWAY: ... but let's talk just this moment about the pageantry because it is incredible.
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: We've seen here now this beautiful crown that she's wearing, the Imperial State Crown. One of the biggest diamonds in the world...
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: ... in that crown, 317-carat diamond. And of course she's wearing her robe, the ceremonial robe.
CLINCH: Right.
CALLAWAY: And we saw that the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coach.
CLINCH: So many of these things relate to empire -- to empire. You know the diamond, a gift from South Africa as I remember it, you know at the time when it was part of the Empire. The coach she rode to the...
CALLAWAY: Irish State Coach.
CLINCH: ... to the thing, the Irish State Coach. I mean part of Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom,...
CALLAWAY: Right.
CLINCH: ... but as I can tell you authoritatively, the rest of it is not. But you know a lot of the pageantry and a lot of the symbols that the Queen uses relate to that image of empire, which of course now is really only an image.
But also you have to think about the Queen when you look at this pageantry. She is relatively an old lady at this point and yet she still has to sit there with this heavy crown on, the heavy robes, walk through, you know, the Houses of -- House of Lords and do this lengthy speech, but she performs it without question.
CALLAWAY: Flawlessly. Yes, and flawlessly.
All right. Thank you, David.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
