STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT
The State Opening of Parliament is the major ceremony 
of the Parliamentary year - and much of it centres on the 
Lords' chamber. It usually takes place in November, at 
11.30 am, unless it follows a General Election at some 
other time of the year. 

The ceremony begins when the Queen rides to 
Westminster from Buckingham Palace in the Irish State 
Coach. She is then led in procession by the Heralds and Officers 
of State to take her place on the Throne in the Lords Chamber, where the peers have gathered in their formal robes. The members of the House of Commons are then summoned to the Lords to hear the Queen's
Speech - which is prepared for her by the government and outlines forthcoming legislation. This is the only occasion when members of the Commons enter the Lords en masse. Usually, individual members stand behind the bar at the back of the chamber; Privy Councillors may sit on the steps of the throne.