UK’s Queen Elizabeth to miss Remembrance Day service due to back sprain
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth delivers a speech inside the Siambr (Chamber) during the ceremonial opening of the Sixth Senedd in Cardiff, Britain October 14, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
LONDON — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will
not attend Sunday’s Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph
because she has sprained her back, Buckingham Palace said.
“Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the
service,” the palace said in a statement.
The ceremony would have been the 95-year-old queen’s first
in-person public engagement since she was advised to rest
following a night in hospital last month.
The news that the queen would not attend the service in
central London, an event that she sees as one of the most
significant engagements of the year, will increase concerns
around her health after she withdrew from public life for the
longest time in memory.
A palace source said the queen’s back sprain was unrelated
to the unspecified ailment that caused her hospital visit and
her doctor’s advice to rest. The source said it was an
incredibly unfortunate coincidence.
The world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch has missed
events such as the COP26 climate conference and a festival to
remember the nation’s war dead on Saturday evening since she
went into hospital for “preliminary investigations.”
The source said the queen hopes to continue as planned with
her schedule of light official duties next week.
The royal family joins leading members of the government,
military and veterans to commemorate those who lost their lives
in conflict by laying wreaths at the Cenotaph in central London.
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