Delay to Queen’s Speech is enough to get the royal goat

THE Queen is facing an unprecedented delay to the State Opening of Parliament because her centrepiece speech, which outlines the Government’s legal programme for the coming year, has to be written on goatskin parchment and the ink takes days to dry.

Whitehall sources yesterday suggested that the State Opening, scheduled for June 19, could be pushed back “a few days”. A final date will only be set after talks with the Democratic Unionist Party later today, in which Mrs May must negotiate a pact after losing her Commons majority in the general election.

The talks could spell trouble for those who transfer the legal programme to the archive paper (which is not actually made of goat). For although copies of both Conservative and Labour Queen’s Speeches reportedly exist on the paper, the Tory programme could yet change to suit the DUP.

There are also fears the delay may force the Queen to curtail her muchloved trip to Royal Ascot. The monarch has already had to postpone an Order of the Garter ceremony on June 19. Critics suggest the Government is playing for time as it tries to hammer out terms with the DUP for a minority government. However, one source said the delay was understandable given that the date of the Speech was set before the election result and that there was “nothing sinister” about it.