Some of the most well-known elements of the State Opening take place out of the public eye.
Before the Sovereign's arrival at parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard, the royal bodyguards, ceremonially search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster for explosives.
This commemorates Guy Fawkes's ‘gunpowder plot' of 1605 – a failed attempt by English Catholics to blow up the Protestant King James I and Parliament.
