Queen will NOT go to Cop26 summit
The Queen’s decision to miss COP26 ‘is just a sensible precaution’ after doctors warned against ‘unwise’ 800-mile round-trip, insist Palace sources – a week after row over ‘secret’ hospital visit
The Queen will not attend Cop26 climate change reception in Glasgow on Monday, Buckingham Palace said The 95-year-old sovereign was due to travel to Scotland for the high-profile engagement on November 1 Aides had hoped that the head of state would be able to lead the Royal Family after health scare last week But the Palace said that the sovereign has ‘regretfully decided that she will no longer travel to Glasgow’
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The Queen has dramatically pulled out of attending next week’s Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow following her secret hospital stay.
Six days before she was due to attend a reception and give a speech at the landmark conference, Buckingham Palace said she had ‘regretfully’ decided not to go. Instead, the 95-year-old sovereign will film a video message at Windsor Castle, which will be broadcast to delegates in Glasgow.
It comes amid fears for the monarch’s health after she was forced to cancel a visit to Northern Ireland at the 11th hour last Wednesday.
Palace sources insisted that her decision not to travel to Scotland was simply a ‘sensible precaution’ in light of her doctor’s advice to rest and that she was determined the conference – which aims to agree crucial global action on climate change – should be a success. Another source said it would have been ‘unwise’ for the Queen to make the 800-mile round trip from Windsor to Glasgow.
A palace spokesman said: ‘Following advice to rest, The Queen has been undertaking light duties at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty has regretfully decided that she will no longer travel to Glasgow to attend the evening reception of Cop26 on Monday, 1st November.
‘Her Majesty is disappointed not to attend the reception but will deliver an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded video message.’
The palace has still not explained why the Queen was taken to hospital last week. After it was announced she had cancelled the Northern Ireland visit, the palace initially said the monarch was resting at Windsor. It was only 36 hours later, after news had leaked out, that a spokesman confirmed she had been admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital in London for ‘preliminary investigations’.
Aides had hoped that the head of state would be well enough to lead the Royal Family at the summit, either in person or via video-link. And earlier on Tuesday she returned to work at Windsor, where she is resting on doctors’ orders, for the first time since last week.
The pictures show her face on a computer screen as she greeted the new ambassador from the Republic of Korea, Gunn Kim, who was at Buckingham Palace. She also spoke to the new Swiss ambassador, Markus Leitner.
The Queen’s decision not to attend Cop26 will be a blow to organisers. There are few people on the world stage who command the same respect and authority as the British monarch. With the head of state missing from the event, it is hoped no world leaders will use her absence as a reason not to attend the summit. It previously emerged that Xi Jinping – president of China, now the planet’s biggest polluter – is skipping the much-anticipated conference.
The Royal Family will still be represented by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge – both of whom have strong environmental campaigning credentials – as well as the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Senior royal aides said the Queen will be working hard behind the scenes to make the summit a success. She will film her video message at Windsor Castle later this week and has let it be known that she ‘very much wants Cop26 to be a success and see meaningful actions’.
Queen Elizabeth II hosted a reception for international business and investment leaders at Windsor Castle on October 19
A general view of the SSE Hydro located on the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow on September 1, 2021
The Queen was photographed at Windsor Castle today in a picture released on the royal family’s social media accounts. The monarch was shown side on, smiling as she sat in a chair with her hands in her lap, in front of her large computer screen. On the table were the Queen’s folded glasses and several pages of typed briefing notes for the audiences
Queen Elizabeth II appears on a screen via videolink from Windsor Castle this morning
Earlier this month she criticised world leaders’ inaction on addressing the climate change crisis.
At a reception following the official opening of the Welsh parliament, the Queen referred to Cop26 and said: ‘I’ve been hearing all about Cop… still don’t know who is coming. No idea. We only know about people who are not coming… It’s really irritating when they talk, but they don’t do.’
A palace source told the Mail that the Queen was being ‘cautious and sensible’ by changing her plans.
‘Her Majesty is following advice – rest and light duties,’ they said. ‘She remains in good spirits. Her Majesty had audiences today and is expecting a call with the Chancellor this evening, as is the norm before the Budget. There are other light engagements in the diary.’
The monarch is being carefully looked after by the Medical Household, her team of royal physicians, but the Mail revealed last week that she had carried out 19 engagements in October – a phenomenal workload for a woman of her age.
Two weeks ago she was forced to start using a walking stick in public for the first time – a stark reminder of her advancing years. And last Tuesday the monarch was on her feet for almost an hour when she held a lavish reception for guests including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and US climate envoy John Kerry, where she looked bright and cheerful.
Buckingham Palace said she ‘remains in good spirits’, though a royal source told The Sunday Times: ‘She is knackered.’ And an insider told the Mail: ‘Her private office will constantly look at her diary and tweak it as and when is necessary.’
It also emerged that the Queen, who is deeply religious and rarely does not attend church, missed prayers at Windsor’s All Saints Chapel in Windsor on Sunday.
She has been resting following medical advice to cancel her two-day trip to Northern Ireland.
The Queen had a busy schedule of engagements in the first weeks of October following her return from Balmoral.
Her hospital stay was kept a secret and only confirmed by the Palace when it was revealed by a newspaper.
It is highly unusual that any major engagement would be cancelled at the last minute, suggesting that staff are taking no chances with the elderly head of state’s health.
She has faced a tumultuous 18 months, including the death of the Duke of Edinburgh as well as the acrimonious departure of Prince Harry and wife Meghan.
The Queen still keeps a busy diary of events and audiences and deals with her daily red boxes of official papers.
Since she returned to Windsor from her summer break at Balmoral, the Queen has carried out 15 engagements, listed in the Court Circular, including her audiences, plus an additional trip to Ascot.
Senior aides at Buckingham Palace are scrambling to devise a strategy for managing the Queen’s workload after being accused of misleading the public over her health.
Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, last night faced calls to ‘be ruthless’ and purge the Monarch’s diary of functions not central to her role as head of state.
Officials are understood to be drawing up a ‘core’ list of key events that the Queen will prioritise in the next 12 months, including the Platinum Jubilee to celebrate her 70-year reign in June.
It comes amid reports the Queen will be accompanied by one of her children or grandchildren when she appears in public in the future to avoid having to cancel and let down the public in the event of future health scares.
Another member of the Royal Family will be on hand to step in should she need company or assistance, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
It is understood the trip to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London (pictured) last week was expected to be for a short stay for some ‘preliminary investigations’
October 16 — Queen Elizabeth II attends Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire
October 13 — Dame Imogen Cooper is received by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, where she was presented with The Queen’s Medal for Music for 2019
October 12 — Queen Elizabeth II uses a walking stick as she arrives to attend a service at Westminster Abbey in London
October 10 — Queen Elizabeth II is seen on her way to The Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor as she returns to church
October 6 — Queen Elizabeth II gestures as she meets members of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery to mark the 150th Anniversary of the foundation of A and B Batteries, at Windsor Castle
October 4 — The Queen is shown the baton that will carry her personal message at Buckingham Palace in London ahead of the launch of the Queen’s Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
October 2 — Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall looks on at the opening of the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament
Meanwhile, the Palace’s communications team is under pressure to be more candid should the 95-year-old Monarch require further visits to hospital.
The Queen’s courtiers faced extensive criticism last week for failing to inform the public that she had been admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Wednesday and stayed there overnight for tests.
The media was told that she was resting at Windsor Castle and aides revealed the hospital stay only on Thursday night after news leaked out. The controversy has shone a spotlight on the growing challenge faced by the Palace in balancing the Queen’s desire to be an active head of state with needing to protect her health.
Royal sources say the easing of Covid restrictions has resulted in a logjam of public events, adding pressure on the Queen’s diary. According to Buckingham Palace’s Court Circular, she has held 13 separate audiences or meetings, attended seven major events and travelled almost 900 miles since leaving Balmoral on October 1. In addition, every day she still reads Government papers, delivered to her in red boxes, and has a long list of private meetings.
‘They have to find some kind of balance,’ said Sally Bedell Smith, who has written a bestselling biography of the Queen.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the Queen’s autumn schedule had been more crammed than expected, but last-minute cancellations were inevitable in the future.
‘Every now and again there will be this reminder that she is 95 and she can’t do what was expected of her 10, 20 years ago,’ Mr Little said.
Last week the BBC’s veteran Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell faced a backlash last night after questioning whether Buckingham Palace undermined public trust by failing to reveal the Queen had been admitted to hospital.
In forthright comments, Mr Witchell said that journalists and the public had not been ‘given the complete picture’.
He added: ‘The problem, it seems to me, is that rumour and misinformation always thrive in the absence of proper, accurate and trustworthy information.’
But his remarks provoked criticism online. ‘Nicholas Witchell is honestly so infuriating,’ one Royal watcher wrote on Twitter. ‘The Queen is 95 and like most her age, she’ll be in and out of hospital for various tests because that’s what happens at that age no matter how fit you are. She doesn’t need to disclose her every move, let her have some dignity.’
The Queen was seen using a walking stick for the first time at a major engagement during a Westminster Abbey service on October 12. On Thursday October 21, she was said to be in ‘good spirits’ after her hospital stay and back at her desk, undertaking light duties. But she missed a church service at Windsor on Sunday.
Royal sources had briefed the Sunday Times that the Queen was ‘knackered’ due to a busy social life and preference for late night television, as having a hectic run of engagements in October.
The Queen’s husband of 73 years the Duke of Edinburgh died six months ago at the age of 99.
Buckingham Palace would not comment on whether the monarch has received her booster Covid-19 jab, but given her age it is likely she has already had it.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘Her Majesty The Queen today conducted two virtual audiences via video link from Windsor Castle.
‘His Excellency Mr Gunn Kim was received in audience by The Queen today via video link and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Republic of Korea to the Court of St James’s.
Mrs Hee Jung Lee was also received by Her Majesty.
‘His Excellency Mr Markus Leitner was received in audience by The Queen and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Swiss Confederation to the Court of St. James’s. Mrs Leitner was also received by Her Majesty.’
