Queen to miss mass due to ‘discomfort’
THE Queen pulled out of a major event overnight to mark her Platinum Jubilee due to “discomfort,” Buckingham Palace said.
The announcement came hours after she had taken to the Palace balcony with members of the Royal Family to greet wellwishers.
It’s also emerged Prince Andrew has tested positive for Covid-19 and saw the Queen just days ago.
The Queen was set to join the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in central London. She would have been part of a large contingent including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who have jetted in from the US.
“The Queen greatly enjoyed today’s birthday parade and flypast but did experience some discomfort,” a statement said.
“Taking into account the journey and activity required to participate in tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving, Her Majesty with great reluctance has concluded that she will not attend.
The Queen appeared from Buckingham Palace with a walking stick to begin four days of public events to mark her historic Platinum Jubilee. She also appeared at a beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle.
The Jubilee marks 70 years of the Queen’s reign.
The 96-year-old was seen using a walking stick as she made her way on to the balcony with her cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 86.
She was later joined by the extended family but there were some big names left out of the photo op including princes Harry and Andrew.
Though her appearance at the event had been in doubt after facing mobility problems, the aid of a walking stick and a bill of good health over the last few weeks allowed the monarch to take a salute from mounted troops from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
It has emerged Prince Andrew has come down with Covid and would also miss the religious service.
The scandal-plagued prince had already been sidelined from most events. Buckingham Palace confirmed the Duke of York’s positive result on Thursday.
Both Meghan, 40, and Harry, 37, watched the Trooping the Colour from a side room with a view of the parade ground.
The Duchess of Sussex was seen putting her finger to her mouth, telling the Queen’s great-granddaughters Savannah Phillips, 11, Isla Phillips, 10, Mia Tindall, 8 and Lena Tindall, 3, to keep quiet in charming photographs. Prince Harry was soon pictured making the exact same gesture.
AUSTRALIA can keep Harry and Meghan company in the nosebleed section of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Like the “non-working” members of the family, we have been royally snubbed by the UK Parliament, the BBC and organisers of the Platinum Party at the Palace this weekend.
The line-up for the big gig in front of Buckingham Palace is naturally dominated by entertainers whose reign of the British pop charts is almost as long as Queen Elizabeth II’S seven decades on the British throne.
It isn’t a Royal jubilee shindig without Sirs Elton John and Rod Stewart singing and Queen – the band, not the monarch – rocking out.
Music aficionados in the Antipodes would also recognise English charttoppers such as Duran Duran, George Ezra and Craig David on the bill.
But few in the Commonwealth who aren’t contemporary music trainspotters would be across the work of Mabel or Ella Eyre or Mimi Webb or Stefflon Don.
And only the Eurovision diehards would be aware of Sam Ryder, who restored British pride by finishing runner-up to Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra in Italy last month.
The English are clearly not taking Kylie Minogue coming home to Australia well.
How else to explain why we have been given the cold shoulder a decade after our Queen of Pop owned the Diamond Jubilee Concert stage with a classic Kylie medley?
And we’re not the only Commonwealth realm left off the VIP list.
There’s no Canadian, Kiwi or Bahamian pop stars, no act representing any of the 15 countries that Queen Elizabeth remains Head of State.
Yet the Platinum Party planners have booked American headliners including Diana Ross, Alicia Keys and Nile Rodgers – alongside Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli and German composer Hans Zimmer – for the London concert on June 4, which will be broadcast in Australia on Sunday night.
Diana Ross may be a Queen of Pop but seems an incongruous choice to headline the thoroughly British affair even though she has enjoyed a long reign on the UK charts. “I have had the honour of meeting The Queen many times throughout my life, including when I was with my family. Her Majesty has and continues to be such an incredible inspiration to so many across the world,” Ross said.
Ross’s call-up for the bill was opportunistic; she had already booked an extensive UK tour and been announced as the “legend” performer for this year’s Glastonbury Festival, also broadcast by the BBC later this month; in short, she was in town. It appears the Royal family are as keen to have us at the Jubilee celebrations as they are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, so maybe it’s time we started planning our Republic party.