THE Queen has tonight dramatically pulled out of the COP26 summit after being told to rest by her doctors.
Her Majesty, 95, will instead deliver an address to the delegates via a recorded video message.
A spokesperson from Buckingham Palace said: “Following advice to rest, The Queen has been undertaking light duties at Windsor Castle.
“Her Majesty has regretfully decided that she will no longer travel to Glasgow to attend the Evening Reception of COP26 on Monday, 1st November.
“Her Majesty is disappointed not to attend the reception but will deliver an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded video message.”
A source claimed that Her Majesty had “regretfully decided” to follow her doctor’s advice to rest and to follow out light duties.
Her attendance had been up in the air after the monarch was forced to pull out of a planned trip to Northern Ireland – her first cancelled royal duty in 15 years – on doctors’ orders to rest.
She also spent a night in the hospital where medics carried out preliminary tests, but she was later discharged from hospital in “good spirits” and said to be keen to get back to her desk.
The events sparked fears her gruelling number of engagements since the death of her husband Prince Philip in April had become too much.
Earlier this month she waded into the climate debate, suggesting world leaders are “irritating when they talk but don’t do”.
Her unscripted remarks, filmed on a phone after she opened a session of the Welsh parliament, echoed those of Greta Thunberg who has argued they “do nothing” in the fight to save the planet.
The Queen’s attendance at the Scottish event next week is part of a flurry of royal COP26 engagements involving the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge between November 1 and 5.
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On the royal family’s website, the head of state is still listed as attending a reception on November 1.
She made her return to royal duties today for the first time since being ordered to rest.
Her Majesty hosted two virtual audiences at Windsor Castle today after Palace aides last week told her to “cut back” on her “exhausting” schedule.
It was the first time the head of state has been seen – albeit on a computer screen – since she hosted a busy evening reception for the global investment summit on October 19.
The Queen beamed in a yellow dress and her three-strand pearl necklace as she met the ambassador from the Republic of Korea.
She was pictured smiling on a computer screen as she greeted Gunn Kim, who was dressed in Korean clothing including a traditional hat known as a gat.
She also met the ambassador from the Swiss Confederation, Markus Leitner, accompanied by his wife Nicole Leitner.
The monarch has had a busy schedule of engagements in the first weeks of October following her return from Balmoral, and her hospital stay was kept a secret and only confirmed by the Palace when it was revealed by The Celeb Report.
It was believed her medical team acted out of caution to have her admitted to King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone on Wednesday.
And the overnight stay — her first in a hospital for eight years — was for practical reasons, and unrelated to coronavirus.
REIGNING IT IN
The monarch is being looked after by the Medical Household, her expert team of royal physicians.
It came after the Queen was pictured using a walking stick as she attended the opening of Welsh parliament with son Prince Charles on October 12.
It was the first time she had publicly used a cane since 2003 following an operation to remove torn cartilage from her right knee.
The walking aid had many worried the monarch’s chock-a-block schedule was too intense.
But she shot down her doubters last week by refusing an Oldie of the Year award.
The Queen said she “doesn’t meet the relevant criteria”, cheekily adding: “You are as old as you feel.”
Days later on October 21, she was said to be in “good spirits” and back to work undertaking light duties after her hospital stay.
But she missed a church service at Windsor on Sunday.
‘KNACKERED’
Royal sources had briefed The Celeb Reportday Times that the Queen was “knackered” due to a busy social life and preference for late night television.
She has also had a punishing workload of 120 official engagements in 194 days since the death of her husband Prince Philip on April 9.
As well as resting under doctors’ orders, The Queen has also decided to give up the booze – ditching the gin cocktail she is said to have enjoyed every evening.
But she will now drink just sparkling water or tomato juice, with a royal source saying: “It was a personal decision.”
Buckingham Palace would not comment on whether the monarch has received her booster Covid-19 jab, but given her age it is likely she has already had it.
