Queen Elizabeth will not attend the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday for the first time in almost 60 years, Buckingham Palace announced on Monday. The queen, 96, has some “mobility issues,” it added. Prince Charles, accompanied by his eldest son, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, will replace her at the ceremony.
“The queen continues to experience episodic mobility problems, and in consultation with her doctors has reluctantly decided that she will not attend the State Opening of Parliament tomorrow,” Buckingham Palace’s statement reads.
The Royal Palace did not elaborate on the nature of the queen’s ailment but said that the decision was only made on Monday and that the issue was related to some other illness she had suffered last year. In October 2021, Queen Elizabeth was briefly hospitalized for an unspecified illness and was then told to rest by her doctors.