Prince Charles is to attend tomorrow’s state opening of Parliament for the first time since 1996, and his wife Camilla will join him for the ceremony.
It is the first time the Duchess of Cornwall has been invited to the event and royal observers say the inclusion of Charles and Camilla is another indication that the Queen is preparing to hand over official responsibilities to her 64-year-old son.
Charles and Camilla will ride with the Queen in her carriage to Parliament and will watch as she delivers her speech to MPs.
The prince has attended the state opening with the Queen on 16 previous occasions but has not been present following his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales, and a scaling-back of the ceremony in 1997 after the election of Tony Blair’s Labour government.
He last went in 1996 when his father the Duke of Edinburgh missed the occasion.
Palace sources attempted to play down the significance of Charles and Camilla attending, saying it was the first time they had been able to go, but their presence tomorrow will establish the prince’s growing role within the royal family.
He and Camilla took on the major overseas trips celebrating the Diamond Jubilee last year and he is set to be the central royal figure for next year’s centenary of the start of the First World War and the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Charles and Camilla made their first public appearance together in 1999, when they were pictured leaving the Ritz Hotel together following a birthday party for her sister.
