British Queen
The Queen’s Quiet Retreat: How Elizabeth II Prepares Her Succession
Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her 70th anniversary to the throne next year
© Jacob King / Picture Alliance
The date was firmly planned, now the cancellation followed: Queen Elizabeth II will not travel to the climate summit in Glasgow. It is another signal of the quiet retreat of the regent, who has sat on the British throne since 1952.
First two appearances on the stick, then a canceled trip to Northern Ireland and finally a hospital stay: The British are concerned about the health of Queen Elizabeth II. Now the 95-year-old monarch had to cancel another appointment that she had firmly scheduled in her calendar – the world climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. From October 31 to November 12, around 200 country representatives will meet there to negotiate climate targets. As the British head of state, the Queen would, in a sense, have hosted the summit.
The more difficult it should have been for her to cancel. “Her Majesty has decided with regret that she will not go to Glasgow after all,” said Buckingham Palace. Doctors of the queen would have continued to advise her to calm down. The Queen is now represented by her son, heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, as well as grandson Prince William and his wife Kate. The Queen wants to address the participants in the climate conference with a recorded video message.
It is another signal of the quiet retreat of the regent, who has sat on the British throne since 1952. In the coming year Elizabeth II will celebrate her platinum anniversary. After the death of her husband Prince Philip in April of this year, it was suggested that the Queen should always be accompanied by a high-ranking member of the royal family on future appointments. After the summer break, for example, she and her daughter Anne performed at Westminster Abbey.
Abdication is out of the question for Queen Elizabeth II
What was initially only intended as an exception should become the rule. The younger royals should relieve the 95-year-old and, if necessary, step in if the Queen is unable to keep an appointment – as is now the case at the climate summit in Glasgow. In addition, the monarch has already given several patronages to other members of the “company”, as the royal family is called internally. Elizabeth II has not noticed any trips abroad for a long time. The withdrawal in installments – it has long since begun and is at best accelerated by the state of health of the Queen.
A abdication like the one carried out by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 2013 is out of the question for Queen Elizabeth II. She is far too dutiful and too religious for that, after all, when she was enthroned in 1953, she swore that God would help her fulfill her role as head of state until her death. Breaking this oath is out of the question for the monarch. Elizabeth II wages a “fight between her head and her body,” as the writer Angela Levin, who has written several books about the Royals, puts it. Prince Philip was always the one who grounded the Queen and sometimes forced a break. “He would have said to his wife: ‘Stop, do not go to so many appointments and relax a little,'” Levin told the British broadcaster Talkradio.
The role of Prince Philip must now take palace employees. So the schedule of Queen Elizabeth II is to be thinned out so that the monarch comes to rest. She officially returned from her summer break around four weeks ago and had 19 appointments across the kingdom by the time she was hospitalized in mid-October – too many for a 95-year-old. The doctors ordered her to take a break for several days.
The Queen likes to watch TV series late at night
After almost a week of abstinence, the Queen made another appointment on Tuesday – but only virtually. From Windsor Castle she granted an audience to the ambassadors of South Korea and Switzerland via video switch. A model with a future: While the younger royals travel across the country for appointments, Elizabeth II could take on obligations in the local area or just complete appointments virtually.
According to a report in the “Sunday Times”, it is not only the tight schedule that causes the Queen to become increasingly exhausted, but also her preference for late-night series. The Queen is considered a fan of the BBC production “Line of Duty”, which was broadcast on Sundays at 9 pm. In addition, she is said to have recently followed the awarding of the “Earthshot Prize” initiated by grandson William on TV. The Queen’s schedule may be thinned out by her employees, but she is unlikely to change her TV habits.
Sources: “Sunday Times”, “Daily Mail”