King Charles III, climate lawyer, is confronted with statements that contradict his beliefs

King Charles III will open a session of Parliament for the first time as monarch on Tuesday, setting out the British government’s legislative priorities as part of a tradition-rich ceremony that will test his skill in displaying the political neutrality for which his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, , was famous.

The centerpiece speech, drafted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak but delivered by King Charles, is a constitutional oddity – and one that will be closely watched this year as the new sovereign reads out a list of bills that include a number of policies that are likely to be sharply opposed to his personal views.

This includes Mr Sunak’s plan to exploit more of Britain’s oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Although the Conservative government claims it will still meet its 2050 net zero targets, the decision to authorize fossil fuel extraction has angered climate change campaigners – an issue close to the king’s heart for decades .

King Charles made his first big speech on the environment in 1970, at just 21 years old, and has been an increasingly vocal advocate for climate action in recent years. In a speech in France in September, he urged the world to “strive together to protect the world from our most existential challenge of all: that of global warming, climate change and the catastrophic destruction of nature.”

Yet few expect King Charles to show anything other than the poker face expected of a British monarch on Tuesday when he has his say the ‘King’s Speech’, an occasion less famous for its politics than for its protocol, elaborate royal regalia and intricate choreography.

“It’s a quirk that we’ve kept because the ceremony is part of the monarchy, but the speech itself is just the government setting out its policies – that’s where the strangeness comes from,” said Catherine Haddon, program director at the Institute for Government, a independent thinker. tank.

The monarchy’s commitment to political neutrality was consolidated during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and “everything we’ve seen suggests that Charles wants to show continuity,” Ms Haddon said.

The government has already confirmed that its legislative plans include measures to offer oil and gas licensing rounds every year, as opposed to the current system where they take place periodically.

The Conservatives want to establish a political divide with the opposition Labor party, which has said that while it would respect existing permits for oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea, it would not grant new ones if it came to power.

On Monday, Downing Street said it saw no contradiction between his proposal and the climate change targets championed by the king. Using British energy sources could achieve net zero targets in a “pragmatic way that does not burden hardworking families”, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said.

This will likely be the king’s last speech before the next general election, due in January 2025, and analysts believe the government will set out a series of policies aimed at its core voters.

This could include measures aimed at targeting motorists whom Mr Sunak has recently tried to reach. That followed his party’s success in retaining a parliamentary seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip earlier this summer, after the party campaigned against Labor’s London mayor’s extension of a plan to allow people to drive more in older, more polluting cars.

That prompted Mr Sunak to water down several environmental measures in September, when he said he would delay a ban on the sale of gas and diesel cars by five years and also cut targets for replacing gas boilers.

On Tuesday, the government plans to announce new crime legislation that would ensure perpetrators of the most serious crimes will stay in prison longer and be forced to face their victims in court.

In comments from his office, Mr Sunak said that “in the most despicable cases, these evil criminals should never be free on the streets again. Life must mean life.”

The government could also announce legislation to introduce a gradual smoking ban that it has already promised. Under the proposal, it would be illegal to sell cigarettes to people born after January 2009.

Some Britons are still getting used to the idea of ​​a king delivering a speech that was read 67 times by Queen Elizabeth during her seven-decade reign. King Charles became his mother’s surrogate in May 2022 when she was unable to attend due to ill health and read what was then known as the Queen’s Speech.

Queen Elizabeth maintained political neutrality throughout her life, rarely divulging her personal thoughts on any issue of contention.

But even she couldn’t avoid speculation about her political views, and when she read the Queen’s Speech in 2017 but did not wear her crown, questions were raised about whether the colors of her hat – blue embroidered with a pattern of yellow flowers – would appeal to some looked like the flag of the European Union – were a statement about Brexit.

During the many decades he has waited to succeed her, King Charles, 74, has championed a variety of causes, from architecture to the environment.

Last week, Buckingham Palace said King Charles will make an opening speech at the COP 28 meeting, which starts in Dubai later this month.

But Mrs Haddon said the fact that his views are so well known was likely to make the king more scrupulous in his neutral stance. He added that he may have been more concerned with the speech than the content of the speech.

Established at the end of the 14th century, the State Opening marks the beginning of the parliamentary year. The modern ceremony dates back to 1852, when a rebuilt parliament reopened after a fire. The route inside the building that King Charles is expected to follow was used by Queen Victoria.

Her relations with the politicians of the day were not always harmonious, especially with William Gladstone, a prime minister who, she complained, “talks to me as if I were a public meeting.” (In contrast, Benjamin Disraeli, a rival who was also prime minister, flattered and charmed the queen.)

Early in her reign, Queen Victoria regularly attended state openings, but this was over by the end of her time on the throne, when she often resisted requests from prime ministers to appear in person. Her successor, Edward VII, revived the State Opening as a ceremonial occasion, including a state carriage procession through the streets of London, with the King, in full regalia, personally reading the speech from the throne.