A very good morning from inside the palace of westminster, where the queen will arrive in a short while to open a new session of parliament. But this is no routine event yes, well be able to enjoy all the usual colour and pagea ntry of the state opening, but it takes place at a time of great political and constitutional uncertainty where even the role of the crown in our National Affairs is being questioned. We were last here two years ago when theresa may was Prime Minister since when the Political Landscape has been turned upside down by the turbulent Brexit Process. Its Boris Johnsons first queens speech as Prime Minister he has no majority in the house of commons so there will inevitably be questions about his ability to deliver the pledges in the queens speech. We could indeed be back again before christmas. But lets deal with todays events first im joined by our Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg. Good money, laura. Good morning, hew. It would be an understatement to say despite all the colour and pageantry, the to say despite all the colour and pagea ntry, the usual trappings to say despite all the colour and pageantry, the usual trappings that we enjoy and admire on this day, despite all of that this is a highly unusual set of circumstances. Absolutely. We will have the same fabulous ceremony, the diamonds, the velvet, the carriage. But from a political point of view, the significance of today is much smaller than it normally is. That is not just because smaller than it normally is. That is notjust because as you suggest the Prime Minister doesnt have a majority, so he cannot for one second to be sure he will be able to do any of the things we will hear the queen announced today. But also because even the pump and ceremonial here is overshadowed by a much more humdrum set of meetings taken place 1000 miles or so away in brussels, where at this moment in time, big, Big Questions about whether or not the uk will be able to leave the eu this month with or without a deal being hammered out. And of course what happens here right now will be dictated by the outcome of those talks. Just to underline, we are in a situation where proposed legislation will be read by the queen. There is absolutely no guarantee any of that can be delivered and we are still waiting for the outcome of the biggest political question of our time. Absolutely right. That is what makes today a slightly strange dip into a parallel universe. What is important about what we will hear today is, because of the uncertainty, it is likely that sooner or later, probably sooner, we will tip into an election campaign. And therefore what we hear today from the queen reading out what Boris Johnson what we hear today from the queen reading out what borisjohnson would to do, is probably a peek at what will be in the conservative ma nifesto will be in the conservative manifesto when we get into a general election. It is not that today doesnt matter. Far from election. It is not that today doesnt matter. Farfrom it. But it is the case that what the queen announces today is not by any means certain to happen. We will talk in a little while, laura. Thank you very much. Laura will be with us throughout the morning. The political circumstances, as we we re the political circumstances, as we were saying, around the state opening are unusual, but they are highly significant. There is one unchanging element. The one constant in this event and that is the presence of her majesty the queen. Along with all the grand ceremonial display which is such a special feature of this day. Move it to the left in file. And out. It was an early start for the yeomen of the guard the oldest British Military corps still in existence, founded by henry tudor at the battle of bosworth in 11185 as they performed their ceremonial search of the cellars of westminster. They started in the Princes Chamber next to the house of lords directly above the cellars where guy fawkes was caught red handed in 1605. That was the scene a little earlier with the yeomen of the guard. Lets look at another part of the palace. Outside. A bit of a wet day at westminster. Everything is ready at the sovereigns entrance, at the opposite end of the palace of westminster to the elizabeth tower, which houses big ben. This is where the queen will arrive in just over an hours time. The magnificent scene inside the house of lords. The Great Chamber that we admired for its architectural and historic beauty. Peers are gathering there. There are currently 775 members, including 92 hereditary peers. Also including the former bbc boss and the barrister who played such a prominent role in the Supreme Court hearing just a few weeks ago on the suspension of parliament. Lots of oui suspension of parliament. Lots of our distinguished National Figures are taking their place on the red benches today. They include 92 hereditary peers, most of the hereditary peers, most of the hereditary peers, most of the hereditary peers were removed in 1999. Everyone is wearing their ceremonial robes today. It is a requirement on the day of the state opening. And the queen will read the speech, which has been written by the government, from the magnificent throne of the house of lords. Pugins a great masterpiece in gilded wood and the gilded canopy above it. Just look at the pair of thrones because it is an interesting feature if we look at the arm rests. The one on the left you will see its slightly higher than the one on the right. Because the manics throne is the superior throne, if you like, the superior throne, if you like, the consort thrown is on the right hand side out the monarch the monarchs throne. Today the throne on the right will be occupied by the prince of wales. On the right hand side of the chair of state the duchess of cornwall who has been accompanying to the state opening since 2013. Rather tellingly we have a little table on the left hand side because that will be where the imperial state crown will be placed or put on display. The queen will not be wearing the crown today. It will be placed on display on the table. That is the scene and the house of lords are starting to fill up because, as you can imagine, there is lots of competition for places today in the house of lords. Just take a little pause there because with me in the studio i have a combined wealth of parliamentary experience im pleased to say. I will not count the years of experience because i am going to be kind about that. But impressed by the combined years of Dame Margaret beckett, the senior labour mp and former foreign secretary, and the lord speaker who will be a prominent figure in todays events. Norman fowler, lord fowler, of course, and formerly conservative Party Chairman and conservative cabinet minister. Good to have you here, thank you. We heard from laurette, lord fowler, that these are highly unusual circumstances we heard from laura stop from you advantage of many yea rs stop from you advantage of many years in this palace, what is your ta ke years in this palace, what is your take on how unusual these circumstances are . They are unusual, obviously. The prorogation which always comes before the queens speech, that showed all that in technicolor we have the queens speech. I am impartial, but in politics everyone is saying there is going to be an election very soon, so to have a queens speech now and the prospect of another election around the corner and another queens speech is very unusual indeed. I dont know anything quite like that. Dame margaret, given your years at westminster, how would you place todays events in context . It is unique because, as lord fowler quite rightly says, we all know that certainly the government wants an election as soon as possible. In fa ct, election as soon as possible. In fact, i think probably if he thought he could get an election well before the end of october, that is exactly what the Prime Minister would want. Everybody knows this is a sham queens speech. It is in effect. Everybody knows this is a sham queens speech. It is in effect strong thing to say. Yes, but this is the governments queens speech, this is supposed to be the Governments Legislative Programme and we all know what the government wants is an election tomorrow and a new government, of which they hope they will be led. Are we saying, lord fowler, in terms of the ceremonial and tradition and heritage and pageantry, this is the same as usual, but politically it is a little thin . I dont know about thin will stop as i understand it there will be a lot of measures in there will be a lot of measures in the queens speech, it is not exactly thin. It is how they are delivered. It is how they are delivered. It is how they are delivered and what value, as margaret says, is put on it. The ceremony will be very much the same. One thing im always intrigued by is my predecessor, the lord speaker has only been in existence for about ten years. Im the third. Before that there was the lord chancellor. And there was the lord chancellor. And the lord chancellor, and now the lord chancellor in the commons, presents the queens speech to the queen and margaret will remember this, quentin hogg, lord hailsham, he would come forward and he was, how can i put it . Ofa he would come forward and he was, how can i put it . Of a certain age and quite wobbly. You dont attain your back on the queen, of course. He came down these stairs and everybody held their breath. You will find today that we dont do it quite that way. He comes down one stairand quite that way. He comes down one stair and goes out. That was one of the changes in tradition that has taken place. Billed by some as a prophet revolution, actually, in terms of the way its changed. Ill tell you of another revolution. Our dear black rod is a woman and we appointed a woman, i was delighted we we re appointed a woman, i was delighted we were able to do that. But the first woman black rod over 600 years and she is fantastic. And you with the first male lord speaker. And she is fantastic. And you with the first male lord speakerlj and she is fantastic. And you with the first male lord speaker. I was laughter i broke the glass ceiling. Margaret, at this point, we are looking at a debate that is taking place at a time of great uncertainty with the Brexit Process overshadowing everything. There is still talk of possibly a deal in the days approaching the eu summit, which is coming up. How it will all of that affect the debate around this proposed programme of legislation . Because surely everything hinges on the outcome of that process. Yes, it does. Im afraid it will make it rather ratty and bad tempered. And probably not as constructive as it ought to be. Theoretically, from what we hear, some of the things the government will say they want to talk about art, to a degree, Common Ground, and everybody thinks are really important. What is happening with education, Climate Change, police service. All of those things, the health service, there is a lot of Common Ground but disagreement about the best way to go. But how much focus there will be, i suspect a lot of it will be a snappy, probably very mistrustful debate, which is a pity because queens speech ought to be an occasion to step back and look at what the government ought to be doing for the betterment of the country, but it wont be this time, i think. What is your hunch, lord fowler . Will be be backin your hunch, lord fowler . Will be be back in the studio in a few weeks . few weeks is putting it height but it could be a fairly short space of time. I hope it is not a ratty debate. It wont be in the house of lords. In the house of commons. If ican lords. In the house of commons. If i can say a word of defence to the house of commons, they come in for an awful lot of stick. The fact is that mps, and i was in the house would 3 years, they are much closer to the public, much closer to the people now than i can ever remember. And i came in, you had mps who didnt stay a night in the constituency, let alone do constituency, let alone do constituency politics. It would be a pity if that reputation that they deserve to have is destroyed by what goes on in the chamber. We will let you go, but especially for lord fowler, who takes a prominent role in todays of proceedings, how do you regard that . Is it a nerve racking thing or do you quite enjoy it . Its not that prominent, to be honest. Its very prominent. The major thing is getting this enormous gold cloak on which is a very, very heavy. Not what im used to wearing. You will see whether i managed to do it or not. We will see. Dame margaret, good to see you. Thank you for joining margaret, good to see you. Thank you forjoining us. Lord fowler, see you later on. We will be speaking to all of the main parties about the current political deadlock a little later in the programme. Its a good moment to take our bearings in the palace of westminster ahead of the queens arrival. This is where the queens coach will arrive, at the foot of the victoria tower the tallest tower in the palace of westminster which houses the parliamentary archives. That is on the right hand side. A detachment of the household cavalry will be lining the royal staircase, and when the queen arrives she will go to the robing room, where the imperial state crown will have been placed ready for the ceremony. That door is currently closed, we are not allowed to access that with the cameras. Once the queen is ready, her majesty, accompanied by the prince of wales, will then begin the formal procession through the royal gallery which is one of the most magnificent spacesin which is one of the most magnificent spaces in the palace of westminster, full of diplomatic and military guests . Into the Princes Chamber the small room next to the house of lords with its white marble statue of Queen Victoria, and then into the chamber of the house of lords. We saw the yeomen of the guard there area we saw the yeomen of the guard there are a short while ago. The statue of Queen Victoria is very impressive indeed and the actual chamber of this Little Chamber of the princes room, this is for me one of the most beautiful rooms in the palace and there are all kinds of portraits, treasures, little gems. Portraits of tudor monarchs. Henry viii and his u nfortu nate tudor monarchs. Henry viii and his unfortunate wives, also portrayed on the walls. Once they go through the princes gallery they will go through to the house of lords, the queen and the prince of wales will be on the thrones and the signal will then be given by her majesty to cement members of parliament from the house of commons, at the other end of the palace of westminster, to come and listen to the speech. They will all pass through the central lobby at the heart of the palace of westminster and my colleague vicki young is there now. This is one of the best locations to witness some of the most iconic moments of the ceremony. Well see the speakers procession pass by and hear the cry of hats off, strangers ring out across the lobby. Shortly afterwards, black rod will be dispatched from the lords. This is the first time a woman has ever held this role. She will pass through here as she makes her way to the commons, to invite mps to hear the queen. Tradition dictates the door will be slammed in herface an important symbol of the independence of the house of commons. Of course, whilst this is an occasion all about tradition, the last few years have been anything but traditional here in westminster. Its been a remarkable period of parliamentary politics since the last state opening of parliament in 2017. The last state opening of parliament followed the 2017 election when the conservatives lost their parliamentary majority. The queens speech was delayed while theresa may negotiated a confidence and supply deal with the democratic Unionist Party. Formal brexit negotiations between the uk and the eu started, with brexit secretary david davis mmeeting michel barnier, and in december, the two sides signed a last minute deal to agree to move talks onto the next phase. June 2018 saw a crunch meeting at the Prime Ministers country retreat chequers, with theresa may summoning her cabinet to get them to back her brexit deal. It led, though, to the resignation of some of her top team, including david davis, and Boris Johnson. The Prime Ministers deal was put to parliament in a meaningful vote in january 2019. The ayes to the right, 202, the noes to the left, 232. But the government lost by a huge 230 votes. Theresa may was forced to go to an eu summit to ask for an extension to article 50. The eu initially granted a brexit delay of a few weeks, before a new deadline of the 31st of october was agreed. In may, the Prime Minister announced that she was standing down, iam i am today announcing that i will resign as leader of the conservative and Unionist Party on friday the 17th ofjune. Unable to bring the party and parliament together to agree a brexit deal. In the leadership election that followed, borisjohnson led at every stage and was formally appointed as the new Prime Minister minister on the 24thjuly. The message from mrjohnson throughout his campaign, and on entering office, has been pretty consistent. There are no circumstances in which i will ask brussels to delay. We are leaving on the 31st of october, no ifs, or buts. But the start to his premiership has not been plain sailing. Hes been defeated in the commons by mps trying to prevent no deal. More than 20 conservatives were booted out as a result. Others have defected to opposition parties. And mrjohnson has been overruled by the Supreme Court over his decision to suspend parliament. Today, with just over two weeks until the current brexit deadline, the queen will read out the governments programme for government. But theres a big question over how much of it bori