Charles to stand in for frail Queen as she misses the Highland Games
THE Queen’s continuing mobility problems means she will miss another of her favourite events today – the Braemar Gathering.
She has only been absent from the Highland Games event a handful of times in her 70-year reign and sees it as one of the highlights of her annual Scottish stay.
She is patron of the gathering and a familiar figure on the dais, often with a tartan rug over her knees and sitting next to family members as she watches events such as tossing the caber, putting the stone and throwing the hammer.
The Prince of Wales, who is known in Scotland as the Duke of Rothesay and is patron of The Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, will take his mother’s place.
Next week the Queen, 96, will greet outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his successor at Balmoral in yet another change to tradition in light of her growing frailty.
Sources have said they do not believe that the monarch has any particular ailment, but is simply slowing down as a result of her age.
Attending the games would not have involved any taxing public duties as she attends it in a private capacity, but the Queen would still have had to spend time in a car and sit outside for several hours.
It is understood that the decision to pull out was taken ‘for the Queen’s comfort’ as a result of her continuing ‘episodic mobility problems’.
A spokesman for the Braemar Gathering said that the Queen had missed the event only five times during her reign, and only then because she was on overseas tours.
The event is being held this year for the first time since 2019, because it was cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic.