The Queen reads a speech that is written by someone else, namely the government. They make her repeat excruciating political slogans. Her representative in the Palace of Westminster - we aficionados call him Black Rod - has the doors of the House of Commons slammed in his face to remind the monarch who is boss.

This part is very eloquently captured in the political thriller trilogy by BBC - "House of Cards" (UK version 1990) [0]. The part I am referring to is the second part of the trilogy and is titled "To Play the King" aired in 1993 [1].

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards_(UK_TV_series) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Play_the_King