The Queen will not attend next week’s service at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace says.
Image source, Steve Parsons
The Queen will not attend next week’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace has said.
This is usually a significant occasion for the Queen and earlier in the week it had been hoped she would attend.
The decision is understood to be about concerns over her discomfort with travelling, rather than illness.
Prince Harry is also now not expected to come to the UK for a service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip, due to be held later this month.
The message from Buckingham Palace does not mention the health of the 95-year-old Queen, but says it was decided “after discussing arrangements with the Royal Household”.
It is understood not to be related to an illness – but there have been concerns about the Queen’s ability to travel and her mobility.
The Queen, recently recovered from Covid, has been carrying out diplomatic engagements, such as meeting the Canadian prime minister this week, and is expected to continue with that next week.
But she will not be at the annual event which celebrates the work of the Commonwealth – and which this year will mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Commonwealth Service was one of two major events for the Queen this month – the other being the Service of Thanksgiving for her husband, Prince Philip.
It is believed that her grandson Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will not be in the UK for that service, with a spokesperson saying that Prince Harry hoped to visit his grandmother as soon as possible.
At the Commonwealth Service, the Queen will be represented by Prince Charles and other senior royals will be attending, including Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are not attending, after the duke tested positive for Covid.