King Charles III donned a ceremonial crown and robe Wednesday to give a speech formally opening the session of the new British parliament. After a national election earlier this month, the U.K. legislature is decisively left-leaning for the first time in 14 years.
Wednesday’s was one of the most significant public addresses delivered by King Charles since he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Charles took a break from public appearances to undergo treatment for about three months before returning to public duties earlier this summer.
Alongside his wife, Queen Camilla, Charles delivered the speech — written by the elected government, not the monarch himself — which outlined plans by the country’s new Labour Party leadership to a joint session of both houses of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Henry Nicholls/AP
The Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, defeated the long-ruling Conservative Party and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the U.K. general election held on July 4. The results were a landslide.
The British monarch’s speech is a political tradition that has stuck around through the U.K.’s evolution from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy.
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