King's Speech: Charles will have to announce measures we know he is bound to dislike
The cameras will be there to record any involuntary reactions and indications of dissent - yet he has practiced all his life to ensure there won't be. It will be one of the many moments he uses to show he understands what it means to be King.
Tuesday is King Charles's first King's Speech as monarch.
This matters to him, not only because he knows the world will be looking to see if he does something differently (he won't - continuity matters) - and not only because it could be an opportunity to say something about his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in a new setting.
The pressure will also be on because we all know he will have to announce - without flinching - measures we remember from his time as Prince of Wales that he is bound to dislike, rolling back some environmental protections close to his heart.
The cameras will be there to record any involuntary reactions and indications of dissent - yet he has practiced all his life to ensure there won't be. It will be one of the many moments he uses to show he understands what it means to be King.
This is also Rishi Sunak's first King's Speech as prime minister. The last, 18 months ago, came when Boris Johnson was in the hot seat in Number 10, weeks from him being turfed out. His successor's job is to defy gravity and try and make sure it isn't his last too.
It is one of the top five moments in Number 10's calendar for the autumn, alongside the conference speech, reshuffle, Autumn Statement and net zero announcement. It is also, arguably, the hardest of the five to use to send a clear political message. His job is altogether harder than the King's.
The Gracious Address, as Tuesday's event is also known, was not conceived to be an especially useful PR moment for the government. It is the day when the monarch, at the behest of the government, sets out the laws which ministers would like to pass in the coming 12 to 18 months. However, a bill being on the list is neither a necessary precondition - nor its absence from the King's Speech a hindrance - to something entering the statute book.
The previous Queen's Speech in May 2022 included 31 bills - parliament passed 43 bills over the course of the following 18-month session - showing there is a weak relationship between the speech and future laws at best. As such it is a moment simply when Whitehall, and the prime minister, are forced to prioritise what he cares about.
