The Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster is also known as the Houses of Parliament. There has been a royal palace on this site for almost 1000 years. For a long time it was the home of kings and queens.
The Palace is built on an 8-acre site and there are over 1,000 rooms and more than 2 miles of corridors.
Visitors to the Palace enter by the Norman Porch entrance. This is the entrance used by the Queen when she comes to open Parliament each year, usually in November.
If you go up the staircase and then look at the ceiling just outside the Robing Room you will see the three colours of Parliament - the Sovereign (gold), the Lords (red) and the Commons (green). The building is divided up in this way too, and on your tour you will first pass through the royal part of the Palace, then the part which belongs to the House of Lords and, finally, the part which belongs to the House of Commons.
The Robing Room. As you enter the Robing Room your eyes are drawn to the Chair of State. In this room the Queen receives the Imperial State Crown which is placed on her head just before she walks in procession through the Chamber of Lords. The Imperial State Crown is specially brought for her from the Tower of London where it is kept for the rest of the year. The Queen also puts on her State robes.
The Prince’s Chamber. This room seems rather small but it is an important room for it is here that Members of the House of Lords meet each other before entering their Chamber. You can see the pictures of Tudor kings, queens, princes and princesses on the wall and also the large marble statue of Queen Victoria. She was queen when the present Palace was built.
T
he
Chamber of the House of Lords. The
Chamber of the House of Lords is also called the Parliament Chamber,
as it is the place where all three parts of Parliament come together
at a State Opening - the Sovereign, the Members of the House of
Lords and the Members of the House of Commons. When the Queen
arrives in the Chamber of the House of Lords and is seated on the
throne she then bids everyone to be seated. Then the Lord Great
Chamberlain raises his wand. This is a signal for Black Rod, the
Queen’s Messenger, to summon the Members of the House of Commons
to the House of Lords. As Black Rod approaches the House of Commons
the doors are shut in his face.
He has to knock three times on the door before he is allowed in. Possible this arose because, centuries ago, the Commons quite often wanted to discuss matters (for instance, a royal demand for money) in private without the king’s messenger coming in unannounced. So the doors would be shut and the discussions would cease before he was let in. When Black Rod has delivered his message, the MPs, walk through into the Chamber of the House of Lords to hear the Queen’s Speech which opens Parliament. In fact, there are 659 MPs. The Queen’s Speech is handed to her by the Lord Chancellor. It is written for her by the Government of the day and not by the Queen herself. In the speech she tells Parliament - Lords and Commons - what the Government hopes to do during the next session (usually the next year). For the rest of the year, the House of Lords uses the Chamber for its debates and discussions of laws in the making.
The Chamber of the House of Commons. The Chamber of the House of Commons is really quite small. MPs hold their debates and their discussions on changes in the law, in the House of Commons. The Chairman, who keeps the House in order, is called the Speaker. He or she can see from the chair all the MPs who signal that they wish to speak. In front sit three Clerks. These people can
advise the Speaker and they also take notes on the proceedings. They are not Members of Parliament. You will see from the picture that there are red lines running along either side of the Chamber. The distance between them is a sword’s length and one foot. This is because many years ago Members of Parliament were allowed to wear swords into the Chamber and ‘sword lines’ were marked on the floor to remind them that however cross they got with each other they should never get close enough to attack each other! You will see also the Table of the House and the Dispatch Boxes (leading politicians stand at these boxes when they make speeches in the House of Commons) and the rest where the Mace is put while the House is debating. The Mace is the symbol of royal authority and is carried every day in the Speaker’s procession.
Clock Tower. As you leave through the north door look up and see the face of Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the name of the bell, not the tower. It strikes every quarter of an hour and is the most famous public clock in the world.
Learn these words:
Chancellor ofthe Exchequer - міністр фінансів Англії
the Government Whip - досл. “батіг уряду” (загальноприйнята назва службових осіб - парламентських організаторів кожної з партійних фракцій)
the Palace of Westminster - Вестмінстерський палац
the House of Parliament- будинок (приміщення) парламенту
the Norman Porch - нормандський під’їзд (збудований у нормандському стилі, англійська архітектура XII ст.)
the Robing Room - убиральня (кімната, де королева надіває корону та королівську мантію)
the Imperial State Crown - імперська державна корона
the Tower of London- Tayep (раніше-тюрма, де утримувалися короновані та інші знатні злочинці, нині - арсенал та музей середньовічної зброї і знарядь катування)
Tudor kings - королі династії Тюдорів
Lord Great Chamberlain - головний керуючий двором короля, камергер
Black Rod - “чорний жезл”, герольдмейстер (постійна службова особа в Палаті лордів, під час церемоній несе чорний жезл, титул існує з 1350 р.)
the Queen’s Messenger - королівський посильний (посланець)
the Lord Chancellor - лорд-канцлер (глава судового відомства та верховний суддя Англії, глава Палати лордів)
Clerks – секретарі
the Dispatch Boxes - сумки для офіційних паперів
the Mace - жезл (символ королівської влади)