Queen Elizabeth II Cancels Trip On Advice To Rest For A Couple Days

Oct 21, 2021 by apost team

According to reports coming out of Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II, 95, has "reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest" and has canceled her trip to Northern Ireland.

“Her Majesty is in good spirits and is disappointed that she will no longer be able to visit Northern Ireland, where she had been due to undertake a series of engagements today and tomorrow,” Buckingham Palace said, according to The New York Times. The palace added that the monarch “looks forward to visiting” Northern Ireland in the future. In 2016, when the queen was last there, she visited the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim with her late husband, Prince Philip.

Following her husband’s death, royal commentators speculated that she would step back from some of her public duties, especially since she is nearing her late 90s. But the queen has continued to make appearances in Parliament, welcoming prominent figures like Bill Gates and attending ceremonies and church services.

According to The New York Times, the queen's announcement on Wednesday is unrelated to COVID-19 but is a result of overwork. After all, the queen has just returned to public life after quarantining at Windsor castle for more than a year during the coronavirus pandemic.

In early October, signs of the queen’s age were on display in public when she used a cane while attending a Westminster Abbey service. Princess Anne handed the monarch the cane as she got out of the car. The Associated Press reported that it was the first time the monarch has used a cane since her knee surgery in 2003.

“To have engagements day after day after day, where you’ve got to remember people’s names and think of something to say, that takes a lot of energy,” said Penny Junor, a royal historian, in an interview with The Times. “It’s like going to a wedding every day.”

The Times reports that the queen’s former aides have confirmed that this isn’t the first time that the monarch has canceled a trip due to illness. In fact, she no longer goes on international trips, preferring to let Prince Charles, 72, go in her stead.

“Her private secretaries are going to look to space out her engagements so she’s working steadily rather than flat-out,” said former press secretary to the queen Dickie Arbiter in an interview with The Times. “She has been visible, she has been energetic and she is 95. She is entitled to feel tired.”

The past few years have been difficult for the queen. Not only did she lose her husband of more than 70 years, but the royal family has also been embroiled in a series of scandals — not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic.

CBS News reports that the queen’s most recent health scare was in 2017 when she suffered from a bad cold and had to cancel a New Year’s Day church visit. Otherwise, however, the queen is understood to be in good health, especially for her age.

It still remains to be seen whether the queen will continue with her next scheduled trip, which is to the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.

The meeting has been called the most important climate conference since the 2015 Paris agreement. Besides the queen, investors and state representatives from nearly every country on the planet will be in attendance. 

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We wish the queen well and hope that she gets back to her old self soon. What do you think about her decision to cancel the trip? Let us know — and pass this on to friends and family members.