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The roads have been swept - and swept again. The lampposts have been painted; the tiaras have been polished.

The state opening of parliament is one of the major events in the Westminster calendar. The Queen will arrive later this morning to perform a role she has performed so many times before.

This year, she'll be accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall for her Queen's Speech debut. A few MPs ostentatiously boycott the event but there are few spare seats in the Commons chamber as Black Rod arrives to summon MPs.

Among those attending will be the deputy speaker, Nigel Evans, days after his arrest on suspicion of raping one man and sexually assaulting another - allegations he says are completely false.

Mr Evans says he will be present today, although he won't be chairing any of the debates on the contents of the Queen's Speech while police investigate the allegations against him.

Now it's just possible you may have noticed that Mr Evans is Welsh - a newsagent's son from Swansea. I've known him since he was an ambitious (and optimistic) Conservative candidate in the 1989 by-election when he came within 15,000 votes of turning Pontypridd blue (I told you he was optimistic).

He was eventually elected for Ribble Valley in 1992, served briefly as the Tories' main spokesman on Wales (in the absence of any Welsh Tory MPs). He became deputy speaker three years ago - you can see a profile of him from 2010 here.

Many MPs have been publicly supportive since his arrest. My report for last night's ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales Today is at the top of the page.