My Lords and Gentlemen,
We have all read posts lately which seem to indicate that the Culture Ministry has been preparing an agenda for the celebration of Hanover Day, 2009. I wonder if my friend, the Minister for Culture, would be so good as to share the details of his plans with this body. I'm sure we would all like to know what to expect.
God save the King
My Lords and Gentlemen:
I thank the Most Noble Duke for his question.
Some time ago, the Justiciar requested that the Culture Ministry spearhead the planning for the celebration of Hanover Day on 25th July. To that end, I drafted a memorandum offering a proposal for an agenda which I then delivered to the Justiciar's Office.
The Justiciar has permitted me to share the proposed agenda with this body; in fact it was his idea that I do so.
So I am happy to share my proposal with the Duke and with the Members of this Noble and Honourable house:
PROPOSED AGENDA FOR THE NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF HANOVER DAY, 25 JULY 2009
1. The completion of the revisions to the National Website and the unveiling of the same by the Ministry of Culture.
2. The dedication of a National Portrait Gallery by His Majesty the King, with His Majesty submitting a new portrait as the inaugural acquisition of the Gallery.
3. A Royal Assent ceremony, presided over by His Majesty, in person, for all bills passed in Parliament between this day and Hanover Day.
4. A meeting of the Privy Council, wherein His Majesty shall approve all Orders-in-Council drafted between this day and Hanover Day.
5. An open, symbolic, pro-forma meeting of the Cabinet.
6. The publication of the first Honours List of His Majesty King James II.
7. An address to the Realm by His Majesty the King.
I stand in full support of the Justiciar's desire that Hanover Day 2009 be celebrated with all possible solemnity. I feel it particularly important to do so in a year in which a new King has ascended the throne.
Needless to say, all those items involving His Majesty will need to be submitted to him for his approval, so that he may prepare for them, for one thing.
As you can see, this agenda is quite skeletal at the moment; not all of the details have been worked out yet. With respect to the National Portrait Gallery, for example, it is uncertain what the venue would be for that. I suppose that the national website makes the most sense, but I am by no means certain if that would be feasible. The Duke of Gottingen would be the best one to offer suggestions in that regard.
I think this agenda represents a good place to begin for the planning and preparations, however, and I am happy to answer any questions and I look forward to the feedback of the members of this body.
My Lords and Gentlemen:
Since several days have passed and none have seen fit to respond to my proposal, shall I assume that everyone is content with this and has nothing to add or no suggestions to make?
I was under the impression that certain members of the Whig Party might have had objections to certain points of the agenda, but if those concerns are no longer an issue, I'll simply go ahead and work on implementing the Hanover Day celebrations agenda as is.
My Lords and Gentlemen:
I have to admit I'm surprised that there has been no response, but I remind the good member Marchmain that it is the weekend, and fathersday no less.
HRH Duke of Gottengin
My Lords and Gentlemen:
I wonder if the noble lord, the Duke of Gottingen, would have any ideas concerning a proper venue for the proposed National Portrait Gallery. Would the website be able to accomodate such a thing?
My Lords and Gentlemen:
The national website could be expanded to have a gallery area.
God save the King
We could of course just have the portraits be on the various people's bio pages. Save everyone some trouble.
My Lords and Gentlemen:
Point of order:
Section 2. Code of Conduct
1. Whenever speaking in Parliament, members shall always address the House using the words "My Lords and Gentlemen"; when replying to remarks by the King, however, the words "Most Gracious Sovereign" shall instead be used.
I believe this forum is governed by the Standing Orders and thus proper decorum should be maintained.
That said, I believe that while the Archbishop is technically accurate, it does not satisfy the drive of having a gallery which is a collection of images with perhaps a few words where I think a biographic is more a collection of words with a few images.
God save the King
My Lords and Gentlemen:
I thank His Royal Highness for his response, and the Justiciar for his. I'm glad to hear that the national website can be used for this purpose.
Addressing the Justiciar's point that the biography page and the Gallery might simply be one, I would say that would be difficult as not all those represented on the biography page would be willing to submit portraits, for one thing.
As to the biography page, I'm not sure I see the value of it as is. The biography page is odd insofar as it only includes information on a handful of subjects. And, at the rate at which we change offices and ranks around here, it would require constant updating, even with only a handful of entries.
I would recommend, therefore, that the National Portrait Gallery actually replace the biography page, outright. The portraits, then, would simply bear a caption indicating the person's name and his or her permanent title or rank (such as 'king', 'princess', 'archbishop') and not temporary ones (such as 'justiciar' or 'minister of').
I must say, however, I am completely opposed to the idea of using the images of other people to represent subjects who will not submit portraits. I find that dishonest and frankly cheesey. Our more shy subjects might, for example, find creative ways of making portraiture available that are less 'revealing'. What about a portrait taken from behind, for example, with the face just barely turned and revealed? Or a photo showing one in the distance? Perhaps a sketch or a painting. There are ways around this.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
I would ask the Minister what he means by "1. The completion of the revisions to the National Website and the unveiling of the same by the Ministry of Culture."
God save the King