Queen Elizabeth II unveils British government's plan

Queen Elizabeth II, centre, and The Duke of Edinburgh leaves Buckingham Palace, riding inside the new Diamond Jubilee State Coach, to deliver her speech at the Palace of Westminster, in London, Wednesday, June 4, 2014. The Coach was built in Australia by a team of craftsmen led by Jim Frecklington who conceived the initial idea. The State Opening of Parliament is an annual pageant of pomp and politics centered on the Queen's Speech, a legislative program written by the government but read out by the monarch before a crowd of lawmakers. (AP Photo/Jonathan Brady, Pool)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, center left, and Prince Philip, center right, proceed through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London.

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the British government’s legislative agenda today in a ceremony that combined a sumptuous display of pomp and power with a slim slate of bills on crime, pensions and fracking.

The annual Queen’s Speech is both a policy statement and an ermine-draped display of regal grandeur. It is read by the monarch but written by the government and marked the final opportunity for Prime Minister David Cameron’s government to offer ideas ahead of a May 2015 election.

The 11 bills outlined in the 10-minute speech included changes to pension plans, a five-pence (8 cent) levy on supermarket plastic bags and a measure giving voters limited powers to recall wayward lawmakers.

The plans also included tougher penalties for human trafficking and a bill to safeguard Good Samaritans in the case of lawsuits stemming from actions taken in an emergency.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, right, and the leader of the opposition Labour Party Ed Miliband, walk through Central Lobby after listening to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II deliver the Queen's Speech.

More contentious were moves to encourage companies to drill for gas through hydraulic fracturing — a practice that faces strong opposition from British environmentalists.

The monarch traveled from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in the resplendent new Diamond Jubilee State Coach, as thousands of tourists lined the streets.

The horse-drawn coach, which was made in Australia, is lined in yellow silk and made up of pieces donated by historic sites and organizations. The seat handrails are from the Royal Yacht Britannia, while the window frames and interior panels include material from Canterbury Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, and the Antarctic bases of Capt. Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

Lawmakers walked from the House of Commons to the House of Lords to hear the queen read the speech — but only after slamming the door in her messenger’s face to symbolize their independence from the crown.

Amid the ritual, a moment of unexpected drama arose when a page boy fainted with a thud just after the queen announced that Britain would work toward a “comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran.”

Officials said later that the boy was fine.