Queen, 95, ‘faces fight between her head and body’, says royal expert

The BBC’s veteran royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell today called out Buckingham Palace on live TV and accused them of deliberately telling the media that the Queen was resting at Windsor Castle when she was actually in hospital.

Mr Witchell, who was famously branded an ‘awful man’ by Prince Charles, told BBC Breakfast that her Majesty’s aides had failed to give Britain ‘the full picture’ and only admitted the truth after the news leaked last night. 

It came as the Queen’s driver took her beloved corgis for a walk at Windsor this afternoon – a job Her Majesty would usually do herself. But the monarch, 95, is working at her desk this afternoon, Boris Johnson has said. 

Mr Witchell told BBC viewers: ‘We were led to believe on Wednesday that the Queen was resting at Windsor Castle. As we were being told that, and relaying it to our viewers and newspapers to their readers, in fact she was in hospital’.

He said: ‘The palace would say the Queen is entitled to patient confidentiality and medical privacy, not withstanding that she is the head of state and millions of people around the world would be concerned’. 

‘We must hope that we can rely on what the palace is now telling us,’ he added, calling assurances that the queen was in good spirits ‘a handy phrase that the palace dusts off at moments such as this’.

Royal author Robert Jobson told MailOnline: ‘Medical privacy is one thing, but on matters of fact, trust between the palace and correspondents is paramount. When the PM was in hospital, the Lobby were told.

‘Personally, I think it was poor judgement [by the palace] and makes it difficult to believe anything we are told at face value’.

It came as Boris Johnson sent best wishes to the Queen and when asked if the 95-year-old monarch was working too hard he replied: ‘I’m given to understand her Majesty is characteristically back at her desk at Windsor’. He added: ‘I think everybody sends Her Majesty our very, very best wishes. And certainly we have from the Government’. 

Prince Philip would have told the Queen to stop attending so many engagements if he was still alive, a royal expert said today.

Royal biographer Angela Levin said the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April aged 99, would have exercised a ‘bit of control’ and told his wife: ‘Look, stop it, don’t go to so many engagements and relax a bit.’

She told how the Queen was facing a ‘fight between her head and her body’ and there was a religious aspect after she vowed at her Coronation in 1953 that God would help her fulfil her role as the head of state until she died.

News of her hospital stay was announced by Buckingham Palace last night, just hours after aides dramatically cancelled an official trip to Northern Ireland to mark the 100th anniversary of the partition of the island.

Royal doctors ordered Her Majesty to rest and advised her to miss a trip to the province, sparking speculation about the reason for the eleventh-hour cancellation.

It is understood the trip to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Wednesday afternoon was expected to be for some ‘preliminary investigations’, and that the overnight stay was for practical reasons .

For these reasons, as well as in order to protect the Queen’s medical privacy, the visit was not announced by Buckingham Palace at the time.

Royal biographer Angela Levin told talkRadio today: ‘We’ve got to sort of encourage her to take a step back or sideways or something to allow her body to recover from the engagements that she does.

‘I think it’s a fight between her head and her body, because she wants to do it, she feels she can, she’s very articulate, she’s absolutely spot on with everything she says, but her body is 95 years old.’

She added: ‘I think if Prince Philip was still around, he would exercise a bit of control and say ‘look, stop it, don’t go to so many engagements and relax a bit’.

‘I think she thinks she does it best [compared to other royals] and she’s the most experienced, but I think the main thing is the religious one, that when she was 21 and she said that she would do her best to be the Queen and with God’s help she would do it until she died.

‘The coronation actually confirmed that as it is a holy event as well as a royal one, and she doesn’t want to break her link with that. It would make her feel very bad because she is devout.

‘However, the Pope has stepped back, he retired for the first time [Benedict XVI in 2013] – and popes are not supposed to leave their job until they die too, and I think you have to take into consideration that people live much longer than they did in 1947 [when she married Prince Philip].’

Asked about reports that the Queen had given up alcohol, Ms Levin said: ‘I think there’s an emotional attachment to that too, she used to have Dubonnet with various mixtures, and it was always Prince Philip’s duty to do it at lunchtime and the evening if they were there together, and it was part of their relationship. And I think it no longer has the same taste really vecause he’s not there, he used to get the amounts absolutely spot on.’

And former BBC correspondent Peter Hunt said on Twitter: ‘Royal medical bulletins are always shorn of detail and light on hard information, as officials balance a 95-year-old’s desire for privacy with the fact she’s a constitutional head of state. For a second time in three years, the palace has tried and failed to keep a hospital visit secret.’ 

In June 2018, it was revealed in the media that the Queen had had successful eye surgery to remove a cataract at King Edward VII’s Hospital in May that year, where she was treated as a day patient. 

The Palace said that the monarch was discharged yesterday morning and returned to Windsor Castle at lunchtime, where she is expected to recuperate for the rest of the week. She was not thought to have had an overnight hospital stay since March 2013, when she was treated for a stomach bug. 

The Queen was understood to be in ‘good spirits’ and back at her desk reading her official government red boxes yesterday. Her admission is understood not to have been related to coronavirus. The Palace has not commented on whether the world’s longest reigning monarch has received her booster Covid jab, but given her age it is likely she has had it.

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. 

Royal commentator Phil Dampier told LBC today: ‘We just all hope that she’s in fine fettle for the Cop26 next month, and of course – most importantly of all for us royal watchers – the Platinum Jubilee next year when she celebrates 70 years on the throne, so I think we need to wrap her up in cotton wool at the moment.

‘You worry about Covid, we know that she’s had both of the original jabs, and I’m sure she’s probably had the booster, I think she’s probably the first person in the country who would have got one.

‘She’s had colds in the past but the fact that they tried to keep it a secret is a little bit worrying. I think she’s probably OK but they were just being extra careful.’

The sovereign has had a busy schedule since returning from Balmoral at the start of October. Including her return from the royal estate in Aberdeenshire, where she spent the summer, the Queen has travelled nearly 1,000 miles this month.  

Last week, she was forced to start using a walking stick in public for the first time – a stark reminder of her advancing years. And on Tuesday evening she hosted a major Global Investment summit at Windsor Castle, where she looked bright and cheerful as she carried out her royal duties.  

Aides say they are still confident she will be well enough to undertake a series of meetings and audiences next week, and also lead the Royal Family at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow at the beginning of November.  

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. 

 

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘Following medical advice to rest for a few days, the Queen attended hospital on Wednesday afternoon for some preliminary investigations, returning to Windsor Castle at lunchtime today, and remains in good spirits.’ 

A source said yesterday: ‘Quite understandably, a cautious approach is being taken by the medical team.

‘Her Majesty was back at her desk this afternoon and undertaking light duties.’

The Queen is expected to rest at Windsor Castle and aides said there were no plans to cancel her attendance at events for the UN climate summit in Glasgow at the end of this month.

She is likely to continue to hold private meetings at Windsor Castle next week but has no public engagements.

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.

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.

The Queen held two audiences this week via video link from Windsor Castle, greeting the Japanese ambassador Hajime Hayashi and the EU ambassador Joao de Almeida, followed by the investment summit in the evening.

Among those at the Windsor reception for billionaire business leaders, presidential envoys and tech entrepreneurs were Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, US climate envoy John Kerry, Poppy Gustafsson, chief executive of cyber security firm Darktrace, and Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. 

Royal sources had insisted there was no cause for concern, and stressed that the decision was made purely as a ‘precautionary’ measure.

There was no suggestion that the Queen had fallen ill and it was understood that her decision was not linked to Covid. It is understood she has received her booster jab.

But the monarch, who will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee next year, continues to stoically meet hundreds of work commitments each year – 30 years after most people have retired – and does suffer from recurrent back pain.

On Tuesday she hosted a summit for global investors and politicians at Windsor Castle, standing and shaking hands for around 40 minutes, the Mail was told.

A source said she was on ‘sparkling form’, welcoming guests including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and US presidential envoy John Kerry, telling Mr Kerry: ‘I saw you on telly the other night doing [Prince] William’s Earthshot Prize thing.’

As part of her planned trip to Northern Ireland, she had been expected to stay at Hillsborough Castle and undertake a series of public engagements there, staying overnight to attend a service to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland.

It is highly unusual that such a major engagement would be cancelled at the last minute, suggesting staff are taking no chances with the head of state’s health, even if it is just precautionary.

Royal commentator Joe Little said the Queen’s age meant last-minute cancellations might become more frequent. The managing editor of Majesty magazine said: ‘When you get to the age of 95 and you have a role such as the Queen has, there is an inevitability about last-minute cancellations. Unfortunately, I think this is just how it’s going to have to be from time to time.’

He added: ‘Mentally, the Queen is pin-sharp as ever and when she makes speeches she speaks well. Every now and again there will be this reminder that she is 95 and she can’t do what was expected of her ten, 20 years ago.’

Mr Little said he believed the Queen would carry out fewer public engagements to mark her Platinum Jubilee than she did for her Diamond Jubilee.

And he said he did not believe she would agree to allow Charles to take over duties as a prince regent unless there was a ‘sharp deterioration’ in her health.

Her doctor’s advice will strengthen calls for her and her advisers to reconsider the number of engagements she undertakes. She has made schedule ‘tweaks’ and has handed over more arduous public duties such as investitures to other senior royals.

But there are some duties that only the reigning monarch can conduct. In recent weeks she has travelled to Holyrood and Cardiff to attend the opening of the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, taken part in a tree planting at Balmoral and launched the Commonwealth Games baton relay at Buckingham Palace.

Last week she used a walking stick for the first time at a public event – at a service for the centenary of the Royal British Legion. She has also taken part in several audiences at Windsor.

A royal source said: ‘With her Platinum Jubilee on the horizon, many are thinking that perhaps her private office needs to look at the diary again.’

Another source said: ‘No one is saying that she should take a step back, but perhaps another slight step to one side might be in order.’

At the weekend, the Queen enjoyed a day at the races at Ascot, and on Monday held a virtual audience with the new governor-general of New Zealand.

Last week, she travelled to Cardiff to deliver a speech at the ceremonial opening of the sixth Welsh Senedd in Cardiff. 

The monarch has been pictured out and about at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and Ascot in the months since, and still enjoys riding her own ponies. 

Earlier yesterday, security sources had speculated whether the health scare was something of a ‘smokescreen’ with the centenary event becoming a ‘political hot potato’ after details of the Queen’s itinerary were leaked by Irish newspapers. 

The Irish Times previewed the Queen’s visit at the end of September and a leading security expert pointed out that details of the trip had been widely reported in Belfast. He said that revealing where the Queen would be ‘was as dangerous as it gets’. 

In the past, details of Royal visits to Northern Ireland were kept under wraps until the last moment. Off-record briefings would be given to the media on condition that the news would be embargoed until the visit was underway.  

There had also been confusion over the last-minute nature of the trip’s cancellation, especially as President Higgins’s invite rejection and the leaking of the Queen’s visit took place several weeks ago.  However, the revelation tonight appears to have laid those rumours to rest. 

The Queen’s husband of 73 years the Duke of Edinburgh died in April at the age of 99.  As well coping with the duke’s death, the Queen and the royal family have endured some of their most turbulent times in modern history in recent years. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plunged the monarchy into crisis with their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, while Philip was in hospital.

Harry and Meghan accused an unnamed member of the family of racism towards their son Archie before he was born, and the institution of failing to help the suicidal duchess.

The pair quit as senior working royals in 2020 in favour of more freedom and the ability to earn their own money in the US.

Harry said he felt let down by Charles and that ‘there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened’ in their relationship, and his long-standing rift with William has continued.

In the aftermath of the Oprah broadcast, the Queen issued a statement saying ‘while some recollections may vary’, the issues would be taken ‘very seriously’, but dealt with privately as a family.

The scandal that engulfed the Queen’s second son the Duke of York, who was forced to step back from public duties in November 2019, moved up a gear this year.

Andrew had faced mounting pressure and calls to answer the FBI’s questions following his ‘car crash’ Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

His friend Ghislaine Maxwell is to go on trial, charged with recruiting girls for Epstein. Maxwell denies the charges against her. Then in August 2021, Virginia Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein, started legal action against Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 and still a minor under US law.

Lawyers for Ms Giuffre filed the civil suit seeking unspecified damages at a federal court in New York.

She alleges she was sexually abused by Andrew at Maxwell’s home in London, Epstein’s New York mansion and at other locations including Epstein’s private Caribbean island Little St James.  Andrew categorically denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre. 

Despite the royals’ problems, there have also been times of celebration, with the Queen welcoming a host of new great-grandchildren.

Princess Eugenie gave birth to her first child, a son called August, in February 2021 and Zara Tindall welcomed her third, Lucas, who was born at home on the bathroom floor the month after.

Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, who the Queen has yet to meet in person, arrived in June, and Princess Beatrice, who wed during the pandemic in a secret lockdown ceremony, had her daughter Sienna in September. 

On Tuesday evening, the Queen welcomed billionaire business leaders, presidential envoys and tech entrepreneurs to Windsor Castle for a reception. 

Mr Gates was among the guests invited to the Queen’s Berkshire home after the day-long conference in London aimed at encouraging foreign funding by showcasing the best of British innovation.

The Queen was joined by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge at the reception, and met some of the leading figures in the castle’s green drawing room before the royals mingled more widely.  Neither the royal family nor the guests were wearing masks. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to be introduced first, but he appeared after the Queen began welcoming her guests and took his place at the end of the line.

In a foreword for the Global Investment Summit’s official brochure, the Queen said she was ‘proud’ of how the UK is moving towards a sustainable future but ‘there is still much more to do’.

The head of state also urged nations to ‘rise to the challenge’ and avert the problems associated with climate change.

It comes after the monarch appeared to suggest last week she was irritated by a lack of action in tackling climate change.

In an overheard exchange following the opening of the Welsh Senedd she appeared to express her exasperation just a few weeks before world leaders gather in Glasgow for Cop26.

‘No fuss approach to infrequent illness’: The Queen’s health over the years after her first overnight hospital stay since 2013 

The Queen is known for her strong constitution and no fuss approach to her infrequent illnesses.

The monarch’s overnight stay at King Edward VII’s Hospital is her first in eight years.

She was treated at the private clinic for a nasty bout of gastroenteritis in 2013, when she also stayed for one night.

Last week, the sovereign used a walking stick at a Westminster Abbey service – the first time she has done so at a major event.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Queen retreated to Windsor Castle for her safety, where she was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh in lockdown.

The couple were vulnerable to Covid-19 because of their advanced age, but were protected by the so-called HMS Bubble – their reduced household of about 20 staff.

On January 9, 2021, the 94-year-old Queen and the 99-year-old duke received their coronavirus vaccinations, with Buckingham Palace taking the rare step of confirming what would usually have been a private medical matter, as the national rollout of the injections gathered pace.

Philip had heart surgery in March 2021, but returned to Windsor where he died a few weeks later in his sleep at the age of 99.

In January 2020, the Queen missed her annual visit to the Sandringham Women’s Institute due to a slight cold.

The year she turned 90 – the monarch called time on her overseas travels, leaving long-haul destinations to the younger members of her family, but she still maintains a busy diary of events. The monarch still rides her Fell ponies at Windsor, and drives, mainly around her private estates.

The Queen missed the christening of her great-grandson Prince Louis in July 2018 but not because of illness.

It was mutually agreed in advance by the monarch and the Cambridges that the Queen would not attend the celebration, which fell at the beginning of a busy week of engagements including the centenary of the RAF and a visit by US President Donald Trump.

In June that year, the Queen pulled out of a service at St Paul’s Cathedral because she was feeling ‘under the weather’.

In May 2018, the head of state had eye surgery to remove a cataract. She was treated as a day patient and did not cancel any engagements nor appearances, but was spotted wearing sunglasses.

In November 2017, the Prince of Wales led the nation in honouring the country’s war dead on Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph. It was the first time that the Queen, as head of state, had watched the ceremony from a nearby balcony, and was seen as a sign of the royal family in transition and an acknowledgement of her age.

Just before Christmas 2016, the Queen and Philip both fell ill with heavy colds, forcing them to delay their trip to Sandringham by a day.

The Queen was not well enough to attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church and also missed the New Year’s Day one. She later described it as a ‘particularly grisly mixture of cold and flu’.

She turned 90 in 2016 and, the same year, used the lift rather than stairs to enter Parliament for the State Opening, avoiding the 26 steps of the royal staircase at the Sovereign’s Entrance.

Buckingham Palace said the ‘modest adjustment’ to arrangements were made for ‘the Queen’s comfort’. The decision was attributed to the Queen suffering from knee pain.

In 2014, the Prince of Wales stood in for the Queen for part of the Order of the Bath service to avoid her having to make an extra journey up and down some steep steps in full regalia.

In November 2013, the Duke of Cambridge stepped in to represent the Queen at an investiture ceremony after she suffered some ‘mild discomfort’ with her ankle after a busy weekend of engagements including the service of remembrance at the Cenotaph.

Her first hospital stay in 10 years came in 2013 when she was 86 after she suffered symptoms of gastroenteritis and missed an engagement in Swansea when she was due to present St David’s Day leeks to the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh.

On March 3, 2013, she was admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital to be assessed. A week of engagements, including a two-day trip to Rome, was cancelled. The Queen spent one night in hospital and left thanking staff and smiling before being driven to Buckingham Palace to rest.

It was thought her public appearances were back on track until Buckingham Palace announced on the morning of the Commonwealth Day Observance service on March 11 that she regrettably could no longer attend ‘as she continues to recover following her recent illness’.

It was the first Commonwealth Day Observance service she had missed in 20 years, the last occasion being when she had flu in 1993.

The Queen, who placed great importance to her role as Head of the Commonwealth, did however attend the Commonwealth Reception at Marlborough House on the evening of March 11 to sign the new Commonwealth Charter.

Buckingham Palace insisted it was just the ‘tail end’ of the symptoms and that her condition had not worsened. But the next day she cancelled her engagements for the rest of the week, with her son, the Duke of York, saying later that it was sensible not to risk her coming out, but that she was not ill.

Her illnesses have been few and far between over the years.

She has suffered from back pain, and also had operations to remove torn cartilage from both knees. She caught measles when Prince Charles was two months old in 1949 and had to be separated from her baby son.

The first time the Queen was actually admitted to hospital was in July 1982 when she had a wisdom tooth extracted at the King Edward VII Hospital in central London.

The Queen’s no fuss approach to injury and illness was perfectly illustrated in 1994.

She broke her left wrist when her horse tripped during a ride on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The break was not diagnosed until almost 24 hours later when her arm was X-rayed and set in plaster at a hospital.

It was the first time she had fallen in many years and the Queen had simply brushed herself down, remounted her horse and trotted on back to Sandringham.