Buckingham Palace has announced the Queen will miss the royal garden party season, but chose not to explain her absence. Instead a spokesperson for the Palace said other members of the royal family would be standing in for the monarch.
The spokesperson said: “Her Majesty the Queen will be represented by other members of the royal family at this year’s garden parties, with details on attendance to be confirmed in due course.”
In October the Queen spent the night in hospital with doctor's giving her strict instructions to rest. Since then she has only attended two major events with the public.
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On February 5, on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee, she hosted a reception at her private Norfolk residence, Sandringham House, for local charity workers, former estate staff and fellow Women’s Institute members. She then attended the memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh.
WalesOnline reported she pulled out of attending the Commonwealth Day service at the abbey in March, a significant date in the royal calendar given the family of nations’ importance to the monarch.
On that occasion it is understood mobility issues for the Queen, who now sometimes walks with a stick, and the need to provide for her comfort prevented her from joining senior royals and the congregation.
Many of her light duties are now carried out by video calls, and the nation’s longest reigning sovereign, who turns 96 in three weeks, said during a recent in-person audience: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move.”
The Queen faced a bout of Covid in February, but has since recovered.
Questions will remain over her attendance during the jubilee weekend – a busy four-day extravaganza with a pop concert, church service, pageant and Trooping the Colour.
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