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Comment by eszed | Hacker News Reader

> All but one of these chairs are in use

Which one isn't?

If know nothing about the subject, but if I had to guess I would guess that the sovereign's throne isn't used casually even by the sovereign.

Edit: it's stated that the throne is used during only the "state opening of the parliament" so that means it's not used "day to day".

The same is stated for the Chair of State, so the sole unused chair can't be either of those.

The robing room chair of state

Apparently not - provided for the king to use when he's putting his crown on before the state opening of parliament.

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/pal...

Copilot says: "This chair, located directly to the left of the Speaker’s chair, remains vacant as a symbolic reminder of the time when the monarch’s messenger or royal representative would sit there."

... but I can't find a link to support this.

I think Copilot made that up.

Notice the seating behind the table in these two images, one of a session with John Berkow prosiding as speaker, I think it is under Cameron's government (noughties [1]); the other of Pitt the Younger addressing the House [2]. Neither shows a vacant seat. Perhaps it is confusing it with the opening of parliament when the Queen wasn't able to attend (2022 [3]) and her throne was left vacant?

The mace represents the king's authority in parliament, you can see it at the front edge of the table in both images ([1], [2]).

The monarch's messenger is Black Rod, they're the one who knocks on the door to call the MPs to go and listen to the "King's" Speech.

[1] https://cdn.britannica.com/25/99525-050-DCC15F00/Chamber-Hou... [2] https://cdn.britannica.com/03/129303-050-05283CEF/William-Pi... [3] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/09/queen-to-mis...

> I think Copilot made that up.

Hmm, I guess I was suspicious. It's like the old bloke at the end of the bar, who always wants to have something interesting to say.

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