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The Queen’s late-night TV viewing and busy schedule of public engagements since lockdown restrictions were lifted have left her ‘knackered’, sources have claimed.
Since returning from Balmoral this month, Her Majesty, 95, has undertaken 19 public engagements, including marking the Royal British Legion’s centenary at Westminster Abbey and opening the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.
The monarch has also continued to enjoy her late-night television pastime, particularly at the weekends, and reportedly stayed up to watch 18-year-old tennis star Emma Raducanu win the US Open.
It is understood the royal also stayed up to watch Prince William’s Earthshot awards ceremony on the BBC after she was heard telling US climate envoy John Kerry that she had spotted him on Sunday night’s broadcast, The Times reports.
And earlier this year it was also reported that the Queen was a fan of the hit BBC drama Line of Duty and would often speak with aides about the show’s never ending twists and turns.
According to the Sunday Times, the 95-year-old monarch was ‘very into’ the hit police drama and was said to have ‘enjoyed’ chatting about the show’s intricate plot line with one of her closest aides Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt – the man in charge of the mission to protect the Queen and Prince Philip at the beginning of the pandemic.
But while the Queen is said to be intent on getting ‘back to business’ after isolating at Windsor, a royal source told The Times: ‘She is knackered.’
The Queen’s has undertaken 19 public engagements, including marking the Royal British Legion’s centenary at Westminster Abbey, since restrictions were eased
The monarch has also continued to enjoy her late-night television pastime, particularly at the weekends. Pictured: The Queen watching the TV at Sandringham with Prince Edward and Prince Andrew in 1969
It comes as senior aides at Buckingham Palace scramble to devise a strategy for managing the Queen’s workload after being accused of misleading the public over her health.
Alongside her public engagements, the monarch has maintained ‘a constant flow of lunches and dinners with family and friends’ and still rides regularly.
This week she welcomed US climate envoy John Kerry and Microsoft founder Bill Gates at Windsor Castle for a lavish reception following a Government investment summit on Tuesday.
She is also expected to attend the forthcoming Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow next month.
A source told The Times: ‘She is fine, but she needs the rest — she is saving her energy for Cop [Cop26].’
But senior aides are now planning to cut the monarch’s punishing schedule after she spent the night at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London after cancelling an official trip to Northern Ireland to mark the 100th anniversary of the partition of the island.
Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, has 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.
This week the monarch welcomed US climate envoy John Kerry and Microsoft founder Bill Gates at Windsor Castle
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
Another member of the Royal Family will be on hand to step in should she need company or assistance, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The Queen’s attendance at the UN climate change summit in Glasgow on November 1 remains in the diary, but a final decision will not be made until later.
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.
It is understood the trip to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London (pictured) on Wednesday afternoon was expected to be for a short stay for some ‘preliminary investigations’
The Queen (right with Boris Johnson) at a reception for the Global Investment Summit in Windsor Castle, October 19, 2021
‘I hope they have learnt from the pretty punishing pace she kept over the course of a month that that is maybe just too much.’
While Prince Philip retired from public life, aged 96, in 2017, the Queen has been determined to carry on working and has been on sparkling form at engagements since his death in April.
She has, however, accepted some changes in recent years.
She stepped back from long-haul travel in 2013, and other senior royals have helped to hand out knighthoods and other honours at investiture ceremonies.
But royal commentators say the Queen’s taxing schedule of commitments will have to be reduced further to reflect her advancing years.
The Queen arriving to attend the ceremonial opening of the sixth Senedd, in Cardiff, Wales on October 14, 2021
‘She doesn’t want to end up constantly in hospital because she is exhausted,’ said royal biographer Ingrid Seward.
‘She will have to do all the big events. It’s the smaller events that she can hand over.’
Ms Seward urged Prince Charles to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the Queen is not overworked, adding: ‘They can divide the duties between other members of the family but Charles has to take a stand and say to his mother, ‘Enough is enough.’
Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to the Queen, challenged her senior courtiers to insist that the monarch becomes more selective.
‘The private secretaries have got to be proactive and ruthless and say, ‘Ma’am, you can do this, but you can’t do that. You can’t do everything’,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Palace press office is being urged to be more transparent should the Queen require further hospital treatment.
Ms Bedell Smith said: ‘When something happens like that, to preserve their credibility, they should issue bulletins in a timely way.’
‘Since when has she been answerable to Nicholas Witchell?’ Public backlash against ‘infuriating’ BBC man after he questioned whether Buckingham Palace undermined public trust by not revealing the Queen was in hospital
By Mark Hookham for the Mail on Sunday
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.
Forthright: Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell (pictured above) faced a backlash after questioning whether Buckingham Palace undermined public trust by failing to reveal the Queen had been admitted to hospital
‘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.’
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘He’s a pompous a***, full of his own self importance. Bring back Jennie Bond. She was classy.’
A third asked: ‘Since when has the Queen been answerable to Nicholas Witchell?’
‘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’, one Twitter user wrote (file photo)
A BBC stalwart, Mr Witchell, 68, famously provoked royal displeasure in 2005 when, during a press conference in the Swiss ski resort of Klosters, he asked Prince Charles about his forthcoming marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles.
Under his breath, Charles was heard to mutter to Princes William and Harry: ‘I can’t bear that man. I mean, he’s so awful, he really is.’
One Twitter user this weekend joked: ‘I don’t agree with Prince Charles on many subjects – apart from Nicholas Witchell.
‘I bet they’ll be setting a room aside in the Tower before they’ve minted a coronation coin.’
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