Queen Elizabeth Is Joined by Son Prince Charles at the State Opening of Parliament in London

Mother-son date! Queen Elizabeth was joined by Prince Charles for an outing in London on Monday, October 14. The British monarch was accompanied by her eldest son as she attended the State Opening in Parliament in London.

During the ceremony, the 93-year-old royal was all smiles as she gathered with hundreds of others in the House of Lords. Her Majesty also performed her ceremonial duty of giving the Queen’s Speech, which informs parliament about the government’s agenda for the upcoming year.

Throughout her speech, Elizabeth urged the importance of protecting the environment, extending the right to remain to European Union citizens and new funding for science and space — plus much more.

The beloved royal was dressed to the nines as she stepped out for the annual ceremony. Elizabeth donned a gorgeous, white gown that featured silver, encrusted diamonds up the entire bodice. She also wore a stunning, ornate robe.

Eagle-eyed fans, however, pointed out that there was one thing missing from the her ensemble: the Imperial State Crown. As she attended the opening of Parliament, fans noticed that Elizabeth opted for her much lighter George IV State Diadem rather than wearing the historic crown, which symbolizes the sovereignty of the monarch.

This isn’t the first time Elizabeth has chosen to leave the iconic crown — which boasts a whopping 2,868 diamonds, a 317-carat Cullinan II diamond, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls — at home. In 1974, she chose to not wear the Imperial State Crown for the two general elections, as well as in 2017 following a snap election.

Although the royal family offered no insight as to why she opted for the lighter head piece, many speculate it has to do with the enormous weight. While appearing in the BBC documentary The Coronation in 2018, Elizabeth joked about how difficult it is to wear the nearly 3-pound Imperial State Crown.

“You can’t look down to read the speech,” she explained at the time of the film’s release in January of last year. “Because if you did, your neck would break — it would fall off.” In our opinion, Elizabeth looked great no matter what!

Be sure to scroll through the gallery below to check out pics from Elizabeth and Charles’ outing at the State Opening of Parliament!