A palace spokesman said: “After a full day yesterday, His Majesty has this afternoon been advised by doctors to rest. “This means that the Privy Council meeting that was due to take place this afternoon will be rescheduled.” The Queen remains at Balmoral Castle, where she appointed Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister on Tuesday. Image: The Queen appointed Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister on Tuesday The latest advice does not include a hospital stay for the 96-year-old monarch, who has ongoing mobility problems. He was due to hold the Privy Council effectively on Wednesday. During the process, Mrs Truss would have been sworn in as First Lord of the Treasury and the new ministers would have been sworn into their roles and also become privy councilors if they had not already been appointed as a clerk before. There is no constitutional issue with the delay in proceedings, the palace said. The Queen appointed the new Prime Minister at Balmoral for the first time in her reign, in a break from tradition. He would normally appoint prime ministers from Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. However, the monarch has been advised to remain at her Balmoral residence in Aberdeenshire, where she has been enjoying her summer holidays. It was thought best for the Queen not to travel back to London due to her intermittent mobility problems. Read more: It was important to see the Queen appoint a new prime minister – analysis
We have to get used to events missing from the Queen
It is telling that the palace felt it necessary to tell us once again that the Queen has been advised by her doctors to rest. I think, in essence, that is because alarm bells might have started ringing, people would have started asking questions, if this Privy Council meeting had not been on the court circular. Certainly in the last 12 months, there has been a change in what the Queen has been able to achieve. Certainly now there is more of that common sense approach within the palace and the family. We all have to get used to the fact that there are some things he’s not going to do. Five years ago it was difficult to talk about transition, it was difficult to talk about change or surrender – now we just have to get used to it. Since last autumn, His Majesty has suffered from mobility problems and now regularly uses a cane. This year, she was forced to cut short several official engagements and notably missed much of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, appearing only briefly on the palace balcony. In June, she missed Royal Ascot for the first time since her coronation, with the Duke of Kent taking her place leading the royal carriage procession. Earlier in May, the Queen missed the opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years on doctors’ orders after experiencing “episodic mobility problems”. And he pulled out of the traditional Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor this year. The Queen also contracted COVID-19 in February and later spoke of how it left her feeling “very tired and exhausted”.
