The British government announced its legislative plans for the next year on Tuesday, but Queen Elizabeth II was missing from the ceremony for the first time in 60 years. Buckingham Palace, in a statement released on Monday, attributed the Queen’s absence to “episodic mobility issues.”

The queen has only missed two previous state openings during her 70-year reign, in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with sons Andrew and Edward, respectively.

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Instead, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles took charge and delivered a short speech on Tuesday morning. He announced 38 legislations that the British government wishes to pass in the next year.

United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed that the government would “grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families”, according to reports from Associated Press.

The government announced plans to invest in railways and other infrastructure, create a British infrastructure bank and “level up” economic opportunity to poorer regions, as well as bills on education and health care funding.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was also a part of the announcement on Tuesday. The conflict has disrupted Europe’s security structure, due to which a “foreign influence registration scheme” was rolled out by the United Kingdom. The United States also reportedly has a similar programme in place.

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The speech also promised laws aimed at pleasing the government’s right-leaning voter base, including promises to seize “Brexit freedoms” by cutting red tape for businesses and overhauling financial services and data regulation now that Britain has left the European Union, according to reports from Associated Press.

The ceremony takes place in the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament, because the monarch isn’t allowed to set foot in the House of Commons. Ever since King Charles I tried to arrest lawmakers in 1642 and ended up deposed, tried and beheaded, the monarch has been barred from entering the Commons chamber.