Queen, 96, POSTPONES her meeting with Privy Council after doctors tell her to rest

The Queen has postponed her Privy Council meeting this evening after being advised by doctors to rest, Buckingham Palace has said.

It comes 24 hours after she was pictured with a walking stick as she appointed Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss while staying at Balmoral — a location chosen for her ‘comfort’.

A Palace spokesman said: ‘After a full day yesterday, Her Majesty has this afternoon accepted doctors’ advice to rest.

‘This means that the Privy Council meeting that had been due to take place this evening will be rearranged.’

The Queen remains at Balmoral Castle, where she appointed Ms Truss at the new Prime Minister on Tuesday, and the latest advice does not involve a hospital stay.

The monarch, 96, has ongoing mobility issues and had been due to hold the Privy Council virtually on Wednesday.

During the proceedings, Ms Truss would have taken her oath as First Lord of the Treasury and new cabinet ministers would have been sworn into their roles, and also made privy counsellors if not already appointed as one in past.

The Privy Council is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As of last month, there were 719 members on the council, with membership lasting for life.

It is composed of politicians, civil servants, judges, members of the clergy as well as Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge. 

There is no constitutional issue with the delay to the proceedings, the palace said.

On Tuesday, the Queen received an outpouring of love on social media after the Royal Family released images of her receiving Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she invited the newly-elected leader of the Conservative Party to become prime minister. 

The smiling head of state looked bright but frail and used a walking stick during the audience, which followed a visit from outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson as he tendered his resignation.

It was the first time in her 70-year reign that the Queen has appointed a Prime Minister at Balmoral. It was also the first time Her Majesty has been pictured since she was seen arriving at the estate on July 21 for her summer holiday.

The two politicians made the 1,000 round trip from London, rather than making the monarch, who has suffered episodic mobility problems since last October, travel back from Scotland.

With her hair neatly curled, the monarch, dressed in a blouse, cardigan and a Balmoral tartan skirt, stood as she met Ms Truss. 

Some observers noticed that Her Majesty’s right hand appeared bruised or purple in photographs of their meeting.

But many social media users voiced their support for the monarch, commenting on how well she had presented herself and paying their respects to the incredible length of her reign which has now spanned the terms of 15 prime ministers, including Truss. 

The Queen is on her summer break on the Balmoral estate, and not due to return until early October.

Yesterday Mr Johnson arrived at around 11.16am and left around 39 minutes later at 11.55am, while Ms Truss arrived at 12.22pm and departed around 33 minutes later at 12.55pm.

The Queen also had another duty afterwards recorded in the Court Circular.

She invested her Communications Secretary Donal McCabe with the Insignia of a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO), an honour in the monarch’s personal gift for service to the royal family.

A number of guests was also seen leaving the castle before the first audiences began. The Queen often has family members and friends to stay during her annual holiday.

Prince Charles today at a roundtable with attendees of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation

The Sun reported recently that the Prince of Wales had been making regular morning visits to see his mother as she continues to struggle with her mobility, with the unplanned visits considered highly unusual.

She missed the Braemar Gathering highland games last weekend, which she usually attends each year, for her ‘comfort’.

Royal sources confirmed that there were two main issues in terms of the Queen’s attendance – firstly getting her to the games, but also that she would have to sit in public for a long period of time to watch them. 

The decision prompted fresh fears about the Queen’s health, just two days after Buckingham Palace said she would remain in Scotland to appoint a new prime minister at Balmoral for the first time in her reign. 

Until now, the Queen has never missed the Highland Games during her 70-year reign, following a tradition of the monarch attending which was started by Queen Victoria 174 years ago in 1848. The event is held a short distance from where Her Majesty is staying on her annual summer at the Balmoral Castle estate in Aberdeenshire. 

Queen Elizabeth II leans on a walking stick as she welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral in Scotland on Tuesday

The Queen invites Liz Truss to become Prime Minister and form a new government as they meet at Balmoralon Tuesday 

And the monarch also remained at home instead of attending the traditional Sunday church service at Balmoral on Sunday.

Prince Charles cut a lonely figure as he was spotted without Her Majesty at the weekly service at Crathie Kirk. The monarch was a regular attendee at the small church while staying at the royal estate in previous year.

Buckingham Palace has declined to give an ongoing commentary on the monarch’s health.

During her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen only travelled to Buckingham Palace twice, first for her Trooping the Colour balcony appearance and then for a finale after the pageant.

She spends most of her time at Windsor Castle, 22 miles from central London, living there during the pandemic and while major renovations take place at the Palace, and for her comfort.

She secretly spent a night in hospital in October undergoing tests and was then under doctors’ orders to rest for the next three months, missing the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service and Cop26 climate change talks.

The Queen caught Covid in February, and suffered from mild cold-like symptoms but said the virus left her ‘very tired and exhausted’.

How the Queen’s health has been scrutinised 

The Queen holds a walking stick as she attends the Royal Company of Archers Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in June

The Queen’s health has been scrutinised over the past year, with the monarch having to pull out of key events due to ongoing mobility issues.

She thrilled crowds on the first day of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations on June 2 when she appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony and later at Windsor Castle. 

But the next day she pulled out of the Platinum Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral after experiencing ‘discomfort’ during the previous day’s celebrations. The decision was considered regrettable, it is understood, but sensible due to the length of the journey and time involved and the physical demands the event would have required.

While she made a number of in-person visits in the weeks leading up to her Jubilee celebrations, including a surprise visit to open the Elizabeth line and to tour the Chelsea Flower Show using a golf buggy, the Queen has faced ongoing ‘episodic mobility problems’ stretching back to last autumn and now uses a walking stick.

In October 2021, she used a walking stick at a Westminster Abbey service – the first time she had done so at a major engagement. A week later, after a busy autumn programme, she was ordered to rest by her doctors and advised to cancel a trip to Northern Ireland.

The Queen was secretly admitted to hospital for ‘preliminary investigations’ and had her first overnight stay in hospital for eight years on October 20, 2021. The next day she was back at her desk at Windsor, carrying out light duties.

But concern for her health mounted when she pulled out of more high-profile engagements, including the Cop26 climate change summit and the Festival of Remembrance, with Buckingham Palace saying she had been advised to continue to rest and not carry out any official visits. She was intent on attending the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, but missed this due to a sprained back.

For more than three months she carried out only light duties, including virtual and face-to-face audiences in the confines of Windsor Castle.

In February 2022, she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, meeting charity workers at Sandringham House and cutting a Jubilee cake in what was her largest in-person public engagement since October.

Many of her duties are now carried out via video calls, and the country’s longest-reigning sovereign remarked during a in-person audience in February: ‘Well, as you can see, I can’t move.’

There were fears for her health when she caught Covid, testing positive on February 20, 2022. The triple-vaccinated Queen suffered from mild cold-like symptoms but said the virus left her ‘very tired and exhausted’. She carried on with light duties while self-isolating at Windsor but cancelled some virtual audiences.

She pulled out of the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March, a significant date in the royal calendar given the importance to her of the family of nations, and did not attend the Maundy Thursday service. But she rallied to honour the Duke of Edinburgh at a memorial service at the end of March, walking slowly and carefully with the aid of a stick, and holding on to the Duke of York’s elbow for support.

In May 2022, she missed the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in nearly 60 years, with Buckingham Palace attributing her absence to ‘episodic mobility problems’. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge opened parliament on her behalf as Counsellors of State, with Charles reading the Queen’s Speech for a historic first time.

Much has changed in the past seven months, with Buckingham Palace mostly only confirming the Queen’s attendance at engagements on the day, with the decision dependent on how she is feeling in the morning. She did go to the Windsor Horse Show in May and she was also the guest of honour at the equestrian extravaganza A Gallop Through History near Windsor, the first major event of the Jubilee festivities.

She also made a surprise appearance to officially open the Elizabeth line at Paddington Station, looking bright and cheery, though her visit was limited to 10 minutes. She also turned up at the Chelsea Flower Show and was driven around the floral extravaganza in her new hi-tech golf buggy for her comfort.