Queen Elizabeth II’s doctors are “concerned” by his state of health. According to a statement sent Thursday, September 8 by Buckingham Palace, they recommended that the 96-year-old Queen “remain under medical supervision”at her castle in Balmoral, Scotland, where she traditionally spends her holidays.
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His heir, Charles, 73, arrived with his wife Camilla at Balmoral, along with his daughter, Princess Anne. Her other two children, Princes Andrew and Edward were on their way by early afternoon. His grandson William, second in line of succession, was also expected on site. His brother Harry, with his wife Meghan Markle, who live in California but were due to attend a ceremony in London on Thursday evening, headed to Scotland.
For Jonny Dymond, a BBC royal correspondent interviewed by Radio 4 on Thursday, “The fact that the family is gathering at Balmoral speaks to the seriousness of the situation.” Because several alerts, in recent months, indicated a deterioration in his state of health.
Hospitalization in October and signs of weakness
A little less than a year ago, the British people experienced their first fright, with the hospitalization of Elizabeth II, in London, on the night of Wednesday October 20 to Thursday October 21. No details had been provided by Buckingham Palace on this hospitalization – the first since 2013. “She’s a strong woman, she’ll get over it”then testified a passerby at the microphone of France 2.
The queen then showed signs of weakness, leaning on a cane on October 12 – a first in public. However, the monarch had not slowed down the pace: in the three weeks preceding her hospitalization, she had chained no less than 14 events. “Age has caught up with her, she will be forced to take into account the advice of her doctors for the first time in her reign”, commented his biographer, Mark Roche.
A few months later, in February, the queen contracted Covid-19, but recovered quickly, after experiencing mild symptoms. The concerns of the British press are therefore directed more towards “mobility problems”. At the end of August, the tabloids evoke “a change in recent weeks.”
Canceled engagements and postponed meetings
A sign of her declining health, the 96-year-old sovereign then considerably limited these public appearances as well as these trips: Tuesday, it was from her Scottish resort of Balmoral – and not in London, at Buckingham Palace as wanted by the use – that she formalized the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister. His 15th head of government in 70 years of reign. Smiling but diminished, the monarch appeared leaning on a cane, shaking hands with the new ruler. An appearance which does not, however, dispel the concerns expressed in recent months by corona observers.
The day after this meeting with Liz Truss, Queen Elizabeth II postponed Wednesday the holding ofa Privy Council, a royal advisory body that can be attended by hundreds of people, including political and religious leaders. According to a Palace spokesman, these doctors had advised him to rest “after a busy day”. This meeting, which was to take place in the evening virtually, “will be reorganized”, said this source without further information.
At the beginning of the summer, the queen notably avoided most of the festivities held from June 2 to 5 on the occasion of its platinum jubilee, showing only briefly on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in front of tens of thousands of people, time to wave to the crowds and listen to the ‘anthem, God Save The Queen. With 70 years of reign under her belt, the oldest incumbent monarch in the world had not attended the religious ceremony, nor her beloved horse races, nor the giant concert in front of her palace. She had not even expressed herself in public: a message saying “deeply touched” by the fervor of his subjects and signed by his hand, had simply been transmitted by the palace.
At the end of June, however, she appeared during an armed forces parade in front of her Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland.
His missions delegated to his son Charles
For months, the Queen of England has delegated an increasing share of her duties to her son Charles, heir to the crown. It was he who, in May, delivered the Speech from the Throne to Parliament for the first time in his place, one of his essential constitutional functions. A handover which is then part of a desire to delegate more and more essential tasks to his son, as well as to his grandson, both of whom have become Counselors of State, a status allowing them to perform the functions of the queen in case of impediment, explains CNN.
In addition to his speech in Parliament, Charles made an appearance at Oxford University that week, a visit to a store in south London and welcomed guests to a traditional “garden party” at Buckingham Palace. .