Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
QUEEN WON’T RIDE AGAIN TILL SPRING
Monarch to rest & then ‘get back in the saddle’
THE Queen may be forced to give up horse riding until the spring but is “determined” to return to her favourite pursuit, royal sources say.
Doctors have ordered the 95-year-old monarch to rest after having specialist tests for an unexplained condition.
Her Majesty stayed overnight at the King Edward VII hospital in London last Wednesday, before returning to Windsor Castle to recuperate.
She has since pulled out of next week’s COP26 summit in Glasgow, where she had been due to host a reception for world leaders on Monday.
Instead, she will send a video message while Prince Charles and Prince William host the event alongside wives Camilla and Kate. The Queen has also not been
able to enjoy her daily walk with her dogs for over a week.
A royal source said: “The Queen is sad she can not get out on her horse, which is one of her favourite pastimes, but she is resting and taking every precaution to get back to full fitness. However she is very determined to be back riding as soon as possible and in no way does she feel her riding days are behind her.”
It emerged yesterday that the sovereign has not been riding for several weeks after suffering some “discomfort”.
Buckingham Palace said that after her stay in hospital, her decision not to travel to Scotland for the climate conference is a “sensible precaution”.
The head of state is also involved in planning celebrations next year to mark her record-breaking Platinum Jubilee.
The Mirror revealed yesterday how courtiers will take a “careful and cautious approach” when examining her diary over the coming weeks.
She is undertaking “light duties” at Windsor Castle and yesterday virtually awarded the Queen’s medal for poetry to David Constantine, 77.
Sounding slightly croaky, the Queen said: “I am very glad to have a chance to see you, if only mechanically.”
On Wednesday she held her weekly meeting with Boris Johnson, by phone, for the first time in three weeks.