Speech from the throne

A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened. The address sets forth the government's priorities for its legislative agenda, for which the cooperation of the legislature is sought. The speech is often accompanied by formal ceremony. It is often held annually, although in some places it may occur more or less frequently, whenever a new session of the legislature is opened.

Historically, when monarchs exercised personal influence and overall decision-making in government, a speech from the throne would outline the policies and objectives of the monarch; the speech was usually prepared by the monarch's advisers, but the monarch supervised the drafting of the speech at least to some extent and exercised final discretion as to its content. In modern constitutional monarchies, whether by law or by convention, the head of state or their representative reads the speech from the throne, but it is prepared by the ministers in cabinet.

Of contemporary European monarchies today, this traditional event is held in the United Kingdom, where it is also known as the King's Speech (or Queen's Speech if the reigning monarch is female);^[1] the Netherlands, on Prince's Day;^[2] and Norway. In other countries the monarch may or may not attend the opening of the country's legislature; they may also give a speech, but these speeches, in contrast, do not outline any government agenda.

Many republics have adopted a similar practice in which the head of state, often a president, addresses the legislature; in the United States, the president makes an annual State of the Union address, in the Philippines the president makes an annual State of the Nation Address. In parliamentary republics where the president is merely a ceremonial figurehead, these speeches are often similar in tone to the throne speech of a constitutional monarchy, whereas in presidential systems such as the U.S. the speeches are somewhat different in that the president exercises personal discretion over the content but the principle of separation of powers means the legislature is not obligated to follow whatever agenda (if any) may be contained in such a speech.