United Kingdom: the state of health of Elizabeth II worries the British – teller report

It is an absence that rekindles the concerns of his subjects. Elizabeth II, 95, has renounced her “great regret”, to participate in the remembrance ceremony in London this Sunday, to pay tribute to the victims of wars, because of his state of health. In 69 years of reign, the monarch had missed this ceremony, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson and many politicians participate, only six other times during her long reign, because she was traveling abroad or pregnant with her two youngest children.

It was to be her first public appearance since her brief hospitalization last month, as the sovereign had to cancel her participation in several events in recent weeks on the advice of her doctors. Among his subjects, some are no longer surprised by this absence. “She is still a certain age, it would have surprised me to see her continue to provide this kind of ceremony”, explains a Briton. “She’s an old lady now, it’s time to take her foot off the table. It’s up to Charles to take up the torch”, abounds another.

Her doctors had suggested that she take a rest on October 20, the day after a reception at Windsor Castle where she appeared chatting with Boris Johnson and American businessman Bill Gates. On the advice of her doctors, the Queen was asked to rest and her schedule was greatly lightened. Elizabeth II notably canceled her trip to COP26, in Glasgow (Scotland), where Princes Charles and William represented the royal family.

According to Buckingham Palace, the 95-year-old queen “hurts your back” this Sunday, and therefore could not attend this symbolic ceremony. An explanation that does not satisfy everyone. “For missing a ceremony that has so many symbols dear to him, the armed forces, WWII and his parents, the Commonwealth, is that there is something important going on with his health. and that we may be hiding “, believes Marc Roche, biographer of Queen Elizabeth II, at the microphone of the 20H of TF1.

Among the families of the veterans, who came to pay homage to the fallen British, the feeling is mixed. “Officially, it’s a back pain. It leaves me skeptical, it must be more serious. We would really like to know what is going on”one of them sighs. “I don’t want to speculate, but when the inevitable happens we’ll be ready”, another philosopher.

On the side of the royal family and the British government, we want to be reassuring. “I would just like to reassure everyone that I saw the Queen at a hearing last week, Wednesday in Windsor and she is doing very well”, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a press conference on COP26 on Sunday. A few days earlier, Prince Charles assured, about his mother, that she “is fine”.

Since her hospitalization, the sovereign has only appeared once, virtually, in a video message sent to the leaders present at the COP26. Photos, which have leaked to the press, have also shown her, headscarf, driving her car. Nothing to reassure the British.