Prince Charles delivers the Queen's speech, but one moment made him an internet joke: "They are trolling us"
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Due to the Queen's forced absence from the Palace of Westminster for the first time in nearly 60 years, Prince Charles stepped in on Tuesday to lay out the government's legislative agenda at the Palace of Westminster.
This is the first time he has taken on a position of such importance under the Constitution. One particular moment, however, made the future king a laughing stock on the internet.
As fragments of the speech surfaced online, the future king was roundly criticised on social media for saying that the government would lower the cost of living for families, all while sitting on a golden, jewel-encrusted throne inside the House of Lords – a promise that was met with scepticism.
"Her Majesty's Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families," Charles said in the speech.
"Her Majesty's Government will level up opportunity in all parts of the country and support more people into work."
Many people on the internet couldn't help but poke fun at the Prince because of the glaring contrast between his speech and the backdrop.
It is customary for the government to write the Queen's speech to parliament, which serves to highlight the Prime Minister's goals for the country. That means it is unlikely that Prince Charles had any direct input over the content of the speech.
The Prime Minister's office was compelled to defend the speech later on, given the thousands of criticism they received saying the speech did not detail specific actions to relieve the cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom.
Prince Charles faced backlash over the Queen's speech in the parliament. Credit: Getty Images.
"The public understands that we’ve already acted to address some of the immediate challenges facing the public. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are very upfront that no government could address all of these global pressures that we’re seeing," a spokesperson told The Sun.
"The Queen's speech, the bills we're bringing forward, focus on boosting economic growth across the country to create the conditions for more people to have high-wage, high-skilled jobs, so dealing with the medium to long-term issues, that's what is a sustainable solution to ease the burden of families and businesses."
Many others pointed out another unusual royal extravagance that was on display during the future king's visit to the parliament: the Queen's crown was also in attendance, having been driven there in its own car to sit on a cushion beside Prince Charles to represent the Queen while she was absent.
CNBC reporter Elliott Smith tweeted: "If anyone was still under the illusion we were a normal country, we just sent an expensive hat to parliament in its own car so Prince Charles could tell our politicians they can crack on."
During her 70-year reign, the Queen has only been absent from the celebration twice: in 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting sons Andrew and Edward, respectively.
It was necessary for the Queen to issue a Letters Patent in order for Prince Charles and Prince William to be authorised to carry out the duty on her behalf. According to a palace insider, Queen Elizabeth has transferred no other powers or responsibilities.
Her Majesty is likely to appear in public for the next time during the four-day celebrations marking her Platinum Jubilee, which will take place next month.
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