LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the British government’s legislative agenda Wednesday in a ceremony that combined a sumptuous display of pomp and power with a slim slate of bills on crime, pensions and fracking.

The annual Queen’s Speech is both a policy statement and an ermine-draped display of regal grandeur. It is read by the monarch but written by the government and marked the final opportunity for Prime Minister David Cameron’s government to offer ideas ahead of a May 2015 election.