Preparations are currently underway for next month’s Platinum Jubilee festivities, which will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne.
Unfortunately, it now looks as though the Queen will not be making an appearance at the celebration, as organizers had planned.
Rumors of the Queen’s failing health have been circulating for months now, and it seems the situation might be even worse than previously thought.
According to the latest round of reports, the Queen will not be able to stand alongside members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, as she has at previous jubilees.
The latest news comes to us courtesy of Vanity Fair, who reports that the Queen has become “‘increasingly frail’ after contracting Covid-19 earlier this year and suffering from various health problems.”
The Queen contracted Covid in February, but she was said to have made a full recovery.
Prior to her bout with the virus, Elizabeth was immobilized by a severe back injury which reportedly left her unable to get out of bed.
“All I know is that it’s far from certain that the Queen will be visible over the four days of the Jubilee,” one insider tells the outlet.
“She absolutely intends to be there for Trooping and the Service of Thanksgiving, but there’s a question mark over her attending the Derby and a number of other events,” the source continues.
“She wants to protect her image, that’s very important to her. She is very much counting on her family to support her.”
The Palace insider added that there are several “contingency plans” in place, in case the Queen is unable to attend any of the events during the four-day Jubilee weekend, which now seems to be most likely scenario.
Even after it was revealed that the Queen would not be appearing on the balcony, there were hopes that she would be able to wave to the crowd from her carriage.
Now, however, it seems that festival organizers have braced themselves for the possibility that she won’t even be able to do that.
No members of the royal family have publicly commented on the Queen’s health.
It was previously reported that concern about Elizabeth’s well-being was one of the things that prompted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to visit London last month.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have neither confirmed nor denied those reports, but it’s worth noting that after a two-year period in which they did not travel to the UK together, the couple will be returning to London in June.
To the chagrin of their many critics, Harry and Meghan have been invited to the Jubilee, and they’re planning to bring their two children, Archie and Lilibet along.
The Queen has not yet met Lilibet, and there were fears that the she would never get to lay eyes on her youngest great-grandchild.
At 96 years old, the Queen is the longest reigning monarch in British history.
We’ll have further updates on her health as more information becomes available.
As always, we wish her all the best.
