Widely admired for her determination to keep working despite health issues, the Queen appeared in good spirits when she greeted Liz Truss on Tuesday as the incoming prime minister.
Her strong constitution and stoicism have enabled the 96-year-old to continue her duties well beyond the age at which most people retire. However, on Thursday she was placed under medical supervision at Balmoral.
It’s thought she inherited the good health and stoicism of the Queen Mother, who lived to the age of 101, after growing increasingly frail following a bad cough and chest infection.
Her illnesses have been few and far between, but she has suffered from back pain, and has had surgery for torn cartilage in her knees.
But as her recent “mobility issues” emerged, concerns over her health were heightened when in October last year, she was secretly admitted to hospital for “preliminary investigations”.
It led to her first overnight stay in hospital for eight years. In March 2013, she had been treated for a bout of gastroenteritis.
Eight months later, the Duke of Cambridge stepped in to represent the Queen at an investiture ceremony after she suffered some “mild discomfort” with her ankle.
In 2016, soon after her 90th birthday, for the State Opening of Parliament, the monarch used the lift rather than the 26 steps of the royal staircase.
She also decided to end her overseas travels soon afterwards.
The Prince of Wales stood in for his mother at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday in November 2017, because she was said to be suffering from knee pain. It was the first time that as head of state she had watched the ceremony from a balcony.
Just a few months later, she underwent eye surgery to remove a cataract. She was treated as a day patient and did not cancel any engagements or appearances.
But in June 2018, the Queen was forced to pull out of a service at St Paul’s Cathedral because she was feeling “under the weather”.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh self-isolated at Windsor Castle during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, despite her knee issues, she was able to ride a pony while staying there.
Then in October last year, she used a walking stick at a Westminster Abbey service – the first time she had done so at a major engagement. Buckingham Palace cited “episodic mobility problems”.
A week later, after a busy autumn programme, she was ordered by her doctors to rest and was advised to cancel a trip to Northern Ireland.
The next day she was back at her desk at Windsor, carrying out light duties.
Soon afterwards, though, she pulled out of more high-profile engagements, including the Cop26 climate change summit and the Festival of Remembrance. Buckingham Palace said she had been advised not carry out any official visits.
She was intent on attending the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, but was also forced to withdraw because of a sprained back.
For more than three months, she carried out only light duties, including virtual and face-to-face audiences at Windsor Castle.
This year, her platinum jubilee year, brought a series of celebrations that would have proved challenging for anyone in their nineties.
In February she met charity workers at Sandringham House, in what was her largest in-person public engagement since October.
But the royal household was perhaps grateful for the advance of technology, because it allowed for many other duties to be switched to video calls. In February the country’s longest-reigning sovereign remarked during an in-person audience: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move.”
When she tested positive for Covid in February, the Queen, who was triple-vaccinated, suffered mild cold-like symptoms but said the virus left her “very tired and exhausted”.
She cancelled some virtual audiences, and the next month pulled out of the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, a significant date in the royal calendar given the importance to her of the family of nations, and did not attend the Maundy Thursday service.
But she rallied to honour the Duke of Edinburgh at a memorial service at the end of March, walking slowly and carefully with the aid of a stick, and holding on to the Duke of York’s elbow for support.
In May this year, she missed the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in nearly 60 years, with Buckingham Palace again attributing her absence to “episodic mobility problems”.
Much has changed in the past seven months, with Buckingham Palace mostly only confirming the Queen’s attendance at engagements on the day, with the decision dependent on how she is feeling in the morning.
However, she did go to the Windsor Horse Show in May and she was guest of honour at the equestrian extravaganza A Gallop Through History near Windsor.
She made a surprise appearance to officially open the Elizabeth line at Paddington Station in London, looking bright and cheery, though her visit was limited to 10 minutes.
On the first day of her jubilee celebrations on 2 June she delighted crowds with an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony and later at Windsor Castle.
But the next day she pulled out of the Platinum Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral after experiencing “discomfort” during the previous day’s celebrations.
She also attended the Chelsea Flower Show, where she was driven around in a hi-tech golf buggy.
On Wednesday, she pulled out of a virtual Privy Council, on the advice of royal doctors.
Additional reporting by PA
