After hospitalization
Queen Elizabeth cancels first public appearance
Queen Elizabeth has to cancel her first public appearance in weeks.
© Jeff J Mitchell / DPA
After a break of several weeks, Queen Eilzabeth II should appear in public for the first time this weekend. But it doesn’t come to that, the queen has back problems.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II canceled her participation in the traditional World War II commemoration in London on Sunday. The reason for this is back problems, said the palace. The date would have been the first official appearance of the 95-year-old since a hospital stay in October.
“After spraining her back, the Queen decided with great regret that she could not attend today’s Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph (the central memorial, editor’s note),” a statement said of the palace. The queen was “disappointed,” it said.
As the British news agency PA reported, citing unnamed sources, the sprain is said to have occurred only recently. Accordingly, there were concerns as to whether traveling in the car and standing during the memorial ceremony for the fallen could affect recovery. The Queen therefore remains in Windsor.
The monarch’s rejection is likely to fuel worries about her health again. After a hospital stay in October, she was given several weeks of rest. However, the November memorial ceremony is one of the royals’ most important dates on the calendar. It was therefore firmly expected that the Queen would do everything possible to take part in the event in London’s government district.
Great Britain pays tribute to its fallen soldiers on Remembrance Sunday, which is always observed on the second Sunday in November. The royals lay wreaths at the central memorial, the cenotaph. Heir to the throne, Prince Charles (73), has been taking on this task for the Queen for several years. But she wanted to attend the ceremony from a balcony in the nearby Foreign Ministry.