The Princess Royal is at Balmoral, and the Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex are on their way to the Queen’s Scottish home, sources said. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have also gone to Balmoral and the Duke of Duchess of Cambridge are on their way.
The Queen is under medical supervision at Balmoral with the royal family rushing to be by her side amid serious health fears for the nation’s longest reigning monarch.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement at 12.32pm on Thursday saying royal doctors were concerned for health.
They said the head of state was comfortable and her royal physicians recommended she remain under medical supervision, as the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall cleared their diaries and immediately headed to the Queen’s home in the Scottish Highlands.
The monarch, 96, pulled out of a virtual Privy Council on Wednesday, a day after appointing Liz Truss as PM at Balmoral Castle.
The Queen in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral, Scotland (Jane Barlow/PA)
A Palace spokesperson said: “Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision.
“The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
The Queen’s close family have been informed, with the latest announcement escalating fears for the monarch’s health.
Prime Minister Liz Truss said “the whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime” adding “my thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time”.
The Queen has had ongoing mobility issues and looked bright but frail and used a walking stick during Tuesday’s historic audience with Ms Truss, which followed a visit from outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson as he tendered his resignation.
The Queen working on her red boxes at Sandringham House (Chris Jackson/Buckingham Palace/PA)
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted the speech of SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford during the energy debate to tell MPs: “I know I speak on behalf of the entire House when I say that we send our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen and that she and the royal family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment.”
He added: “If there is anything else, we will update the House accordingly.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “deeply worried” by the news from Buckingham Palace and he is hoping for the Queen’s recovery.
Heir to the throne Charles was said to have been making regular morning visits to see his mother later in the summer as she continued to struggle with her mobility, with the unplanned visits considered highly unusual.
She missed the Braemar Gathering highland games last weekend, which she usually attends each year.
During her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen only travelled to Buckingham Palace twice, first for her Trooping the Colour balcony appearance and then for a finale after the pageant.
She secretly spent a night in hospital in October undergoing tests and was then under doctors’ orders to rest for the next three months, missing the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service and Cop26 climate change talks.
The Queen caught Covid-19 in February, and suffered from mild cold-like symptoms but said the virus left her “very tired and exhausted”.
The Queen cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee (Joe Giddens/PA)
Elizabeth II is the first British monarch in history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.
Her reign has stretched from the post-war years through a new millennium and into a radically altered 21st century.
In her twilight era, she has been setting her affairs in order, using her Jubilee message to endorse her daughter-in-law the Duchess of Cornwall, once a royal mistress, to be Queen and crowned at the Prince of Wales’s side when he one day becomes King.
She also faced a run of royal troubles in her Jubilee year.
She stripped her son the Duke of York of his military roles and he gave up his HRH style ahead of Andrew agreeing to pay millions to settle a civil sexual assault case.
