Queen Elizabeth II will miss the opening of Parliament on Tuesday, the first time in 59 years, being replaced by her son Charles, Buckingham Palace announced this afternoon.
“At the request of Her Majesty, and with the agreement of the relevant authorities, the Prince of Wales will read the Queen’s speech … in the presence of the Duke of Cambridge,” Prince William said in a statement.
The decision, he said, was taken on medical advice due to “episodic mobility problems”, so the 96-year-old monarch “reluctantly” decided not to attend.
Crown Prince Carlos has already participated in the ceremony in previous years as his mother’s escort, replacing the prince consort, Prince Philip, who retired from public life in 2017, at the age of 96.
Buckingham Palace said last week that the Queen had intended to attend the event, but would only confirm it on the same day.
According to the Daily Mail, measures had been put in place to reduce the distance he would have to walk due to mobility difficulties.
Protocol calls for the queen to walk between the car and the entrance to the Parliament building and then to the room in the House of Lords where she normally reads her speech, including three steps leading up to the platform where the throne is where she sits.
In 2016, it used an elevator instead for the first time in 64 years, avoiding the 26 steps of the Royal Entrance Staircase.
The Queen first used a cane in public last October and recently admitted during a reception at Windsor Castle: “I can’t move.”
The Opening of State of Parliament is one of the most important public acts of the head of state, consisting of the reading of the so-called Queen’s Speech, which lists government policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session.
Elizabeth II only failed to open Parliament twice during her 70-year reign, in 1959, the year she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Edward.
In 2020 the ceremony was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and last year it had reduced capacity due to health measures, but even so the ninety-year-old sovereign was present.
Since 2019, it has stopped being transported in the traditional and eye-catching golden horse carriage, choosing to travel to Westminster in a limousine as it is more comfortable.
Military pomp was also reduced and the queen stopped wearing the Imperial Crown or ceremonial cloak due to weight and discomfort, wearing a normal dress.
Other secular customs are expected to be repeated, including symbolically holding a deputy hostage to ensure the monarch leaves the building safely.
In the last two years, Elizabeth II has reduced the public agenda and canceled the participation in several events, being represented by other members of the royal family.
In March, she missed an annual Commonwealth commemoration ceremony in London, which she rarely missed, but she made a point of attending a religious ceremony in memory of her husband, Prince Philip, who died in April last year, aged 99.
The Royal House has already announced that the Queen will not participate in the traditional garden parties at Buckingham Palace, to which ordinary citizens are invited, and it is not known to what extent she will appear at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
Last October, the Queen spent a night in hospital for an unknown reason and was advised to rest for the next three months, missing several important events.
In February, he overcame a Covid-19 infection, but continued to perform “light tasks”, namely by videoconference.