Queen Elizabeth has “reluctantly accepted medical advice” to rest for a few days, according to a surprise announcement from Buckingham Palace that added the queen’s undisclosed ailment is “not COVID related.”
The statement announced the cancellation of the 95-year-old monarch’s long-planned trip to Northern Ireland. “Her Majesty is in good spirits and is disappointed that she will no longer be able to visit Northern Ireland, where she had been due to undertake a series of engagements today and tomorrow.”
The queen will rest at Windsor Castle, where she has been staying in recent days—and where she hosted maskless politicians including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, senior Biden climate envoy John Kerry, and business leaders including Bill Gates at a reception on Tuesday evening tied to the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
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The queen, who has ruled over the United Kingdom for seven decades, just declined the dubious “Oldie of the Year” award offered by Oldie magazine, which said she sent a friendly letter. “Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such the Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept and hopes you find a more worthy recipient,” reads a letter from her private secretary Tom Laing-Baker to the magazine.
