Queen Retires From Cenotaph Remembrance Sunday Service After Sprained Back.
The Queen will not attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph after suffering a sprain to her back.
The 95-year-old monarch has been under the orders of doctors to rest for almost a month and was scheduled to return to her royal duties in central London on Sunday morning.
But he has been injured at Windsor Castle, which means he will stay there and miss service.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen, having twisted 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 the service will be lost.
“As in previous years, the Prince of Wales will lay a wreath on His Majesty’s behalf.
“His Royal Highness, together with the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra will be present at the Cenotaph today as scheduled. ”
It is understood that your back sprain is not related to your medical team’s recent advice to rest.
The Telegraph understands that Her Majesty is deeply disappointed to miss out on the service, which she regards as one of the most important engagements of the year.
A source said: “It is obviously an incredibly unfortunate moment, and no one regrets the Queen’s absence today more deeply than Her Majesty.”
The Queen hopes to continue her planned light duty program next week.
His Majesty has not missed the Cenotaph service since 1999, when he was visiting South Africa overseas.
Her planned return to public service was to come after she was forced to withdraw from a planned visit to Northern Ireland for health reasons on Tuesday 19 October.
It was later revealed that he had spent the night in the hospital undergoing tests.
He was unable to attend Cop26, where he hoped to pressure delegates on the urgent need to act on the environment, and it has already been confirmed that he would miss the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday.
The Queen has always placed great emphasis on her gratitude and respect for military veterans and their families.
Living through the Second World War herself, in recent years she has found herself among the oldest of those attending the Remembrance Sunday service, leading tributes from a balcony overlooking the Cenotaph.
Until the age of 91, he placed a wreath, and only passed that symbolic duty to the Prince of Wales in 2017.
Previously, the Queen had missed the Cenotaph service four times because she had been on tours abroad: in 1961, 1968, 1983 and 1999, and twice before the birth of her two youngest children.
Buckingham Palace had said that it was the queen’s “firm intention” to attend the annual wreath-laying service at Whitehall.
The monarch, who lived through World War II as a teenager, is the head of the armed forces and attaches great importance to the moving service and commemoration of the sacrifices made by fallen military men and women.
It comes when he has missed several other events after he was ordered to rest just over three weeks ago by royal doctors, including the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday night.
He spent one night in the hospital on October 20 undergoing preliminary tests.
Reaction to the withdrawal of the queen
Alok Sharma, chairman of the UN COP26 climate summit and former business secretary, wished the Queen “all the best” after hearing that she would miss the Remembrance Day service in central London due to a sprain to the back.
Speaking to Sky News’s Trevor Phillips On Sunday show, Sharma said: “Obviously, I’m very sorry to hear that, but I just got the news at the same time as you.
“As I understand it, this is a precaution and of course we wish His Majesty all the best.”
Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland said there would be “sadness” that the Queen had to stop attending the Remembrance Sunday service.
The colleague said “everyone will wish her well” after Buckingham Palace announced that the 95-year-old had twisted her back.
Told on Sky News’s Trevor Phillips On Sunday show that it would be “disappointing” for many veterans if the monarch couldn’t attend, the Baroness of Scotland said: “Absolutely.
“The Queen is rightly adored. She has shown a full commitment to the Commonwealth and is very much loved.
“So, an opportunity like this, to see her and pay tribute to what she did too because people do forget that she was an engineer, she was also making her contribution.
“I think there will be a lot of sadness, but everyone will wish her well, everyone will want to see her again. She is the heart of most of the love in the Commonwealth, so we wish her the best.”
The additional shock from this year’s service
The event will gain more intensity as the number of participating veterans and military that participated before the pandemic, as well as spectators, will be brought back.
The Prime Minister will be among senior politicians and members of the royal family laying a wreath at the war memorial in central London for the National Service of Remembrance.
Boris Johnson said it was a time to “come together to remember those who sacrificed everything in the service of our country.”
He said: “It is a sacred ceremony that has endured for more than a century because we know the unpayable debt we owe to these brave men and women in service.”
“We know that for our tomorrow they gave their today.
“And we know that here at home and around the world, thousands of men and women in uniform are still willing to defend our unity and our way of life, our values, and at a cost few of us would be willing to pay.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said “it was time for all of us to stop, reflect and remember those millions of people in Britain and the Commonwealth who have kept us safe through their service and sacrifice.”
He added: “Our way of life, our values and our democracy are fought hard through sacrifices that end and change lives.”
“It is that sacrifice that has ensured that we can enjoy the freedoms that we live every day and that we must never forget.”
The Remembrance service in Whitehall will return to normal this year after the coronavirus pandemic limited the number of veterans and the military and closed the ceremony to the public last year.
Hundreds of servicemen and women will line up around the Cenotaph, and about 10,000 veterans will parade in front of the war memorial, watched by large crowds.
The Prince of Wales will place a wreath on the upper step of the Cenotaph on behalf of the Queen while watching from the balcony of a government building, as in previous years.
Defense Chief of Staff Gen. Sir Nick Carter said it was an “honor” to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on behalf of “all those who have lost their lives in the service of our country.”
He said: “They died to protect the free and open way of life that we enjoy today.
“On Remembrance Sunday, all members of the armed forces will reflect on this legacy, regardless of where and under what circumstances they are serving, with the certainty that they now have a responsibility to uphold the values and standards that their ancestors upheld.”
The Royal British Legion (RBL), the UK’s largest charity supporting the armed forces community celebrating its centenary this year, said the march will include hundreds of young cadets, guides and scouts.
“It is vital that the Remembrance torch be passed on to younger generations and we are proud that many will attend alongside veterans of all ages,” said Bob Gamble, RBL assistant director for memorial events.
He said: “For 100 years, the Royal British Legion has led the nation in Remembrance to ensure that the memory of those who have served and sacrificed on our behalf is preserved.
“Memory is part of the fabric of society, it reminds us of our shared history, and today it continues to unite people of all origins, communities and generations.”
The RBL has been selling poppies, a common sight on the Western Front that became a symbol of remembrance for those killed in WWI, in preparation for the day as part of their annual Poppy Drive.
A two-minute national silence will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday to remember those who fought in past conflicts and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The ceremonies will also take place at war memorials across the country after they were cut down last year and the RBL advised the public to commemorate remotely by displaying a poppy in their window.
Meanwhile, members of the royal family and the Prime Minister joined a crowd of thousands to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in conflict at the annual Festival of Remembrance on Saturday night.
In a break with previous years, the Queen was not present at the event taking place at the Royal Albert Hall.