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FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth waits in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, Britain September 6, 2022. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS
LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II’s closest family rushed to Scotland on Thursday (Sep 8), after doctors placed the 96-year-old monarch under medical supervision, prompting concern from British political and religious leaders.
Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign and the world’s oldest monarch has been dogged by health problems since last October that have left her struggling to walk and stand.
“Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
“The queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
Her children – eldest son and heir to the throne Prince Charles, 73, Princess Anne, 72, Prince Andrew, 62, and Prince Edward, 58, were either already at or quickly headed to her Scottish home Balmoral Castle after the announcement.
They were joined by Charles’s elder son Prince William plus his younger son Prince Harry, who has been on a rare visit to Britain after abandoning royal life to move to the United States.
British press later reported that Harry’s wife Meghan was not travelling to Balmoral with him and would remain in London.
Such a family gathering, outside of holiday events such as Christmas or Easter or major public events, is extremely rare.
The palace statement about the queen’s health is also highly unusual.
“The palace does not issue bulletins on the queen’s health unless it’s significant,” royal commentator and author Robert Hardman told the BBC.
Last October, Elizabeth spent a night in hospital and she has been forced to cut back on her public engagements since then. On Wednesday, she cancelled a virtual meeting with senior ministers after being advised to rest by her doctors.
The previous day, she had been pictured appointing Liz Truss as the country’s new prime minister at Balmoral, the 15th prime minister of her record-breaking reign.
A palace source played down speculation that the monarch had suffered a fall.
The queen – an instantly recognisable figure to billions of people across the world – is in her Platinum Jubilee year, marking 70 years since she succeeded her father king George VI in 1952.
Moments before Thursday’s announcement, notes were passed in the House of Commons to Prime Minister Liz Truss, her ministers and opposition leaders, prompting them to leave the chamber.
“The whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime,” the new premier tweeted, just two days after the queen appointed her at Balmoral to succeed Boris Johnson.
“My thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time,” Truss added, echoed by leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Her spokesman later said the Prime Minister had no plans at the moment to travel to Scotland.
One photograph of the queen greeting Truss at Balmoral on Tuesday had already sparked alarm, showing a deep purple bruise on the monarch’s right hand.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons, interrupted an energy debate in parliament to say he sent his best wishes to the monarch.
Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “Along with the rest of the country, I am deeply worried by the news from Buckingham Palace this afternoon.”
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the highest-ranking cleric in the Church of England headed by the queen, said she was in his prayers.
“May God’s presence strengthen and comfort Her Majesty, her family, and those who are caring for her at Balmoral,” he tweeted in comments echoed by other faith leaders.
Elizabeth has looked visibly frailer in recent months amid a succession of withdrawals from public engagements.
She has taken to walking with the help of a stick and was also seen earlier this year at the Chelsea Flower Show touring the site in a motorised buggy.
In February she was laid low by a bout of Covid, which she admitted afterwards had left her “exhausted”.
Officially, the palace has said only that the queen has been suffering from “episodic mobility problems” but given no further details.
She has pulled out of ceremonial engagements, delegating more to Charles, including the State Opening of Parliament and the Trooping the Colour military parade to mark her official birthday.
Four days of public events were held in June to mark the queen’s record-breaking Platinum Jubilee, but she made only two appearances to acknowledge the huge crowds in central London.
As well as the United Kingdom, the queen is also head of state in 14 Commonwealth countries around the world, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
She further heads the Commonwealth grouping, which comprises 56 nations and takes in more than a quarter of humanity.
For most of her subjects, she is the only monarch they have ever known, featuring on stamps, banknotes and coins, and immortalised in popular culture.
But Britons were forced to face up to the reality that her reign was in her twilight years, when her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died in April 2021, just weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
“She is just part of our lives … She’s been the queen for all our lives really. She’s so calm and measured,” said Maureen Barnett, 66, outside Buckingham Palace as news filtered through.
“I’ve been concerned since yesterday when I heard she couldn’t do the Privy Council meeting,” added Elizabeth Jackson, also 66.
“I was hoping the Scottish air might do her good. The issues have accelerated this year. It is quite worrying.”
In recent years, the queen has been forced to face a succession of scandals involving senior royals, including her second son Prince Andrew for links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Harry and Meghan also rocked the palace by quitting royal life, and criticising the institution, even accusing it of racism.
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