Pomp and ceremony of Queen's Speech endures as arguably the most radical Parliament plan ever is unveiled

A curious, anachronistic blend of spectacle, constitution and raw politics, the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech have always been favourites of mine.

There’s the journey from ‘Her’ Buckingham Palace to ‘Her’ Palace of Westminster with a Government Whip, held ‘hostage’ at Buckingham Palace, until Her Majesty returns.

Rich in history, the assertive slamming of the Commons doors in Black Rod’s face to remind folk we fought a Civil War and chopped off a King’s head to protect the rights of that place, and the rat-a-tat-tat of Black Rod on those shut doors symbolising Her Majesty’s desire they still come and hear what is their ‘business’ in the House of Lords.

Then there’s a senior Cabinet Minister, dressed like a judge from Ruritania, carry the Government’s legislative programme in a ‘purse’ that wouldn’t look out of place at a hippy festival.

Watch Black Rod's symbolic knocking on the shut doors:

Sir Alastair Burnet once described the heralds and pages as a ‘deck of playing cards, on parade’. He, and I, cherished making gentle references to the role Augustus Welby Pugin played in rebuilding the Palace after the Great Fire of 1834 – ‘the ‘encaustic tiles, featuring heraldic designs and Latin mottoes’ another of his regular observations I stole in subsequent years.

This year, all that was there once again.

But I do not think I have ever heard Her Majesty utter such clunky phraseology as "the Northern Powerhouse".

It must also, surely, be a first for the Queen to promise legislation to deal with the thorny issue of "psycho-active drugs".

More significant, perhaps, were the passages dealing with devolution, ‘English votes for English Laws’ and the pledge to deliver an ‘in-out’ referendum on the European Union.

This Parliament, running until May 2020, will see debates on many matters, but this constitutional agenda is arguably the most radical ever.

One suspects the glorious colour of the pomp and ceremony will endure; but the nation-state, and its crucial alliances and treaties, will come under close examination in these coming months and years.

Remember that when you reflect on how pretty the horses looked, how funny it is that the cellars are still searched for gun-powder kegs, and that, for the first time in years, Dennis Skinner MP didn’t say anything rude or silly to Black Rod.

Her Majesty, on behalf of David Cameron, spoke of 'one nation', but what will that 'nation' look like by 2020?

This Parliament really is that important.