COP26: The Queen, 95, will 'regretfully' not be attending climate change summit in Glasgow

Sky News
Updated ·3 min read

The Queen will not be attending the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow which starts this weekend, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A palace statement 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, 1 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 palace source said the decision was taken as a "sensible precaution".

Sky News understands that she remains in good spirits and was expecting a call with Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday evening as is the norm before the budget.

Her Majesty hopes no one will use her absence as a reason not to go, according to Sky News sources.

It is understood the Queen very much wants COP26 to be a success and result in meaningful action from the participating nations.

The monarch had been scheduled to attend events in Scotland as 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 1 and 5 November.

Other members of the Royal Family will still be in attendance, Sky News understands.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Queen carried out her first official engagements since being told to rest by doctors and spending a night in hospital last week.

Her Majesty returned to royal duties with virtual audiences at Windsor Castle.

She wore a yellow dress and her three-strand pearl necklace as she met the South Korean ambassador Gunn Kim and separately, the Swiss ambassador Markus Leitner.

Last week, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said she was admitted for "preliminary investigations" - but returned to Windsor Castle at lunchtime on Thursday.

Today's engagement was the first time the 95-year-old monarch has been seen, albeit on a computer screen, since she hosted a busy evening reception for the global investment summit on 19 October.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the Queen held two audiences on Tuesday afternoon via videolink from Windsor Castle.

It comes after she "reluctantly" cancelled a trip to Northern Ireland last week after doctors ordered her to rest ahead of preliminary tests in hospital on Wednesday - marking her first overnight stay at a medical facility in eight years.

She is currently being looked after by the medical household, her expert team of royal physicians.

Sky News' royal correspondent, Rhiannon Mills, said last week that Her Majesty's hospital admission was not related to COVID-19 - and she was back at her desk doing some light work the following day.

Buckingham Palace has not yet confirmed whether the monarch has received her booster coronavirus jab.

Earlier this month, the Queen was seen using a walking stick for the first time at a major engagement during a Westminster Abbey service.

Watch: COP26: Queen 'irritated' by leaders who 'talk but don't do' on climate

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