Prince William Will Miss Father King Charles' First King's Speech at State Opening of Parliament

The date for the first State Opening of Parliament of King Charles' reign has been announced, but the Prince of Wales has another commitment

Prince William won't be by his father King Charles' side for an important royal first as monarch.

The House of Lords announced Thursday that the 2023 State Opening of Parliament will take place on November 7. The event is significant as it is the first of the new reign and will be the first time Charles, 74, delivers his King's Speech.

But the Prince of Wales, 41, already has a commitment on the calendar for that date — the 2023 Earthshot Prize awards ceremony being held in Singapore. It's currently unclear if William's wife — Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales — will join him on the trip.

Although this will be the first State Opening of Parliament of King Charles' reign, he stepped in for Queen Elizabeth at the event in May 2022. Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen, who died in September at age 96, would miss the event due to "episodic mobility problems." For the first time, Charles represented his mother and read the Queen's Speech.

RELATED: Prince William Is 'Very Excited' to Take His Earthshot Prize Awards to Asia, CEO Says (Exclusive)

During the 11-minute speech, which outlined the administration's objectives, the then-Prince Charles used the often repeated phrase "Her Majesty's government" instead of "My government," which is what Queen Elizabeth would use if she had delivered the speech.

Prince William supported his father at the event, attending the State Opening of Parliament for the first time, and Camilla also took part in the ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Queen Elizabeth delegated her royal duty of opening a new session of Parliament to her son and grandson via a letter patent, which enabled them to jointly exercise that function. Both were acting as Counsellors of State, and two Counsellors of State are required to perform any of the monarch's constitutional duties.

The State Opening of Parliament is a key moment in the political and constitutional calendar as it sees the monarch, as head of state, outline the main legislation that the serving U.K. government (led currently by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak) wishes to introduce over the coming months.

The event is steeped in tradition — and calls for royal regalia.

Although Queen Elizabeth opted to wear a day dress and hat in recent years, the State Opening of Parliament often saw the late monarch wearing the Imperial State Crown (or a diadem) and her long velvet Robe of State.

Meanwhile, members of the House of Lords wear ceremonial robes, and judges of the High Court of Justice wear wigs.

King Charles was crowned at his May 6 coronation with the St. Edward's Crown, which is only used to crown a new monarch during the coronation ceremony, before swapping it for the Imperial State Crown toward the end of the service and wearing it for the following appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

It's unclear if King Charles will wear the historic headpiece for the State Opening of Parliament in November, but the crown will still be present for the event.

In 2022, the Imperial State Crown was processed in on a pillow and placed placed prominently on a table between Charles and William for the ceremony.

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The location of Prince William's third Earthshot Prize ceremony was revealed in May. Prince William launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to promote impactful approaches to the world's most pressing environmental challenges. The inaugural awards ceremony was held in London in October 2021, followed by a glittering second cycle in Boston in December 2022.

Hannah Jones, CEO of the Earthshot Prize, exclusively told PEOPLE, "I think he and we are all very excited to be in Asia. We think it's a real opportunity to spotlight what countries around the region are doing, what people are doing."

She added that the Prince of Wales "doesn't stay still. His ambition continues to grow, and rightly so. The focus is still completely, 'What are we doing to impact? What is our impact? How do we scale our impact? How can we go faster?' "

In addition to his travels to Asia in the fall, Prince William is heading to New York City in September for the second Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit. There, the fifteen 2023 Earthshot Prize finalists will be revealed ahed of the prize ceremony.

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