FOLLOWING the fallout of local elections, attention now turns to the Queen’s speech as Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his legislative agenda for the year ahead.

It will be the first major public appearance for the Queen since the passing of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the age of 99 last month.

The Queen, 95, has been continuing with her work as sovereign at Windsor Castle as she mourns the loss of her beloved husband of 73 years.

25 bills will be unveiled in Her Majesty’s speech covering asylum reforms, policing and adult social care.

The Queen marks the beginning of the parliamentary session by delivering the Queen’s Speech, which sets out the Government’s legislative plans.

The State Opening of Parliament is usually the most colourful event of the parliamentary year and is steeped in tradition and customs dating back centuries.

This year, amid the coronavirus pandemic it will be a pretty quiet affair compared to usual traditions.

The Queen will wear a day dress and a hat rather than the traditional robes and a crown while just 100 people will attend.

There would usually be 600 in Lords however this has been scaled back to maintain social distancing guidelines with just a small number of MPs in the upper chambers to hear the Queen’s address.

Her Majesty will arrive via car rather than in a horse-drawn carriage.

But perhaps the most bizarre tradition will still go ahead while the Queen is in Westminster.

As part of an old tradition, an MP must be held hostage at Buckingham Place while the Queen is busy in Westminster to ensure her safe return.

Before the monarch departs from Buckingham Palace the monarch keeps a hostage MP (usually the Vice-Chamberlain) prisoner for the duration of the ceremony.

The hostage this year is Conservative MP Marcus Jones who will be entertained until the safe return of the Queen.

Although Mr Jones will remain under guard, the imprisonment is now purely ceremonial.

The tradition began 1649 when Charles I, who had a strained relationship with Parliament was eventually beheaded during the Civil War between the monarchy and Parliament.

In the absence of Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will join the Queen at the event, but there will be no carriages, and the Queen, in day dress and hat, will travel from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster by car.

Charles has been at his mother’s side for the last three state openings – in December 2019, October 2019 and in June 2017.

He stepped in for his father Philip in 2017 after the duke fell ill with an infection, two months before he retired from public duties.