It is the first time in more than sixty years that the Queen will not read the Speech from the Throne, written by the government to present its priorities. The speech is due to take place on Tuesday at Parliament in London.
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Caution is the mother of safety. Queen Elizabeth II will be absent on Tuesday for the speech from the throne in the Parliament of London, a solemn meeting of British democracy, and will be replaced by Prince Charles, Buckingham Palace announced on Monday evening May 9. “The Queen continues to have episodic mobility issues and, after consultation with her doctors, has reluctantly decided not to take part in the Speech from the Throne”the palace said in a statement.
It is the first time in more than sixty years that the Queen will not read the Speech from the Throne, written by the government to present its priorities. It is also the first time that Prince Charles, heir to the crown, will replace her. Queen Elizabeth II only missed this appointment twice during her reign, when she was pregnant in 1959 and 1963. She is now 96 years old.
This absence, the year of the platinum jubilee celebrations for her 70 years on the throne, marks a new symbolic stage in the gradual transfer of the sovereign’s tasks to Prince Charles, who has already represented her abroad for several years.