From the BBC:
“Queen cancels Northern
Ireland visit on medical advice”
(The Queen was pictured on
Tuesday evening, hosting a Global Investment Summit at Windsor Castle)
The Queen has cancelled a trip to
Northern Ireland and has "reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for
the next few days", Buckingham Palace says. The 95-year-old monarch will
remain at Windsor Castle but is still expected to attend the COP26 climate
change conference in Glasgow later this month. The Queen is in "good
spirits" but "disappointed" that the visit cannot go ahead, the
palace said. She was due to begin the two-day trip on Wednesday.
The nation's longest-reigning
monarch has attended a series of events in recent days, hosting a Global
Investment Summit at Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, she
held two audiences via video link, greeting the Japanese ambassador Hajime
Hayashi and the EU ambassador Joao de Almeida. On Monday, she held a virtual
audience with the new governor-general of New Zealand, and at the weekend, she
attended the races at Ascot. It was revealed on Tuesday that the Queen had
declined the Oldie of the Year award, from the magazine of the same name,
saying: "You are only as old as you feel".
A Buckingham Palace spokesman
said: "The Queen has reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for the
next few days. "Her Majesty is in good spirits and is disappointed that
she will no longer be able to visit Northern Ireland, where she had been due to
undertake a series of engagements today and tomorrow. "The Queen sends her
warmest good wishes to the people of Northern Ireland and looks forward to
visiting in the future." The Queen's decision is understood to be unrelated
to coronavirus.
Analysis box by Daniela Relph,
royal correspondent Buckingham Palace is keen not to cause any alarm and
has stressed that the Queen has "reluctantly accepted" the advice of
doctors to rest for the next few days. She has had a busy schedule of
engagements over the past couple of weeks that would test the resilience of
many people far younger than her. I saw her last Tuesday at an event at
Westminster Abbey. It was the first time she had used a walking stick in
public. She also took a shorter route into the Abbey. We were
told this was "for her own comfort." But she still looked
incredibly well and engaged for a 95-year-old. It is clear though that
getting older takes its toll on us all and the Queen's diary will be carefully
managed going forward.
The Queen had been due to arrive
in Hillsborough in County Down on Wednesday afternoon and attend a church
service marking the centenary of the formation of Northern Ireland in Armagh
tomorrow. An advance team was already in Northern Ireland making preparations
for the two-day visit. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales was also at Windsor
Castle on Wednesday for an investiture ceremony where the chef and TV presenter
Mary Berry was made Dame Commander. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the
Democratic Unionist Party, said on Twitter: "We thank Her Majesty for her
good wishes to the people of Northern Ireland and trust that she will keep well
and benefit from a period of rest. "It is always a joy to have Her Majesty
in Royal Hillsborough and we look forward to a further visit in the near
future." Wishing her well, Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said the
Queen had been "a source of great comfort during Northern Ireland's
darkest days and provided lasting leadership as we moved into a new era for all
our people". Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he wished the
Queen "all the very best as she takes a few days' rest". Church
leaders in Northern Ireland said in a joint statement that they were sorry she
would not attend the Service of Reconciliation and Hope in Armagh, and
acknowledged "the significance of her commitment to the work of peace and
reconciliation, which has meant a great deal to people throughout this
island". The Queen first travelled to Northern Ireland in 1945, just after
the end of World War Two, when she was a princess. If it had gone ahead, this
week's trip would have been her 26th visit. Royal visits to Northern Ireland
during its centenary year have included the first in line to the throne, Prince
Charles who went to Belfast in May, and Prince William who visited Londonderry
in September.
^ I hope that this is the not the
sign of something much worse and that she can just rest and get better. ^
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