Queen's Speech

The British Monarch officially opened the 59th session of the UK Parliament during her reign, on 25th May 2010.
This ceremonial ritual dates back to the 16th Century.
Wonder how much the 5-minute Queen's Speech (actually prepared for her by the new Government) and the entire pomp and pegeantry show, would cost the British people? Maybe close to a million pound?
The only cost-saving in the entire procedure, in the 21st Century context, was the non-use of fossil fuel for the Queen's journey from Buckingham Palace to the Parliament House, a distance of about 5 km. However, the horse-drawn coach must be costing the people more in terms of horse-power and man-power for that 15 minutes journey. Just look at the number of people (and horses) dressed ceremonially and in uniform, involved in the entire ceremony!
The House of the Lords was packed to capacity - 1ooo strong? So much so that the members from the House of Commons, led by the Speaker and Prime Minister have to be squeezed standing at the back of the Lords Chamber to listen to the speech they had prepared for the Queen.
No wonder the British Government is having a huge current deficit of 156b pounds - there are more lords than servants in the UK!!