Queen Elizabeth II, 95, has pulled out of attending Sunday’s National Service of Remembrance to commemorate the war dead after spraining her back. Her absence from today’s ceremony comes after she was admitted to hospital for mystery tests in October and took almost a month off work. Buckingham Palace said two weeks ago that it was the queen’s “firm intention” to attend the annual wreath-laying service in Whitehall. However her office issued a statement Sunday morning saying: “The queen, having sprained her back, has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today’s Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph. Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service.” The palace added that a wreath would be laid on her behalf by Prince Charles. The Telegraph quoted a source saying: “It is obviously incredibly unfortunate timing, and nobody regrets the Queen’s absence today more deeply than Her Majesty herself.”
