Sad Last Days: Fears Mount For Queen As She Withdraws From Royal Ascot Appearance — Her 7th Cancellation In Six Months
Queen Elizabeth canceled her appearance at the Royal Ascot horse racing event, marking the latest public event she has canceled at the last minute amid growing health concerns, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Tuesday, she was surprisingly absent for the first day of Royal Ascot – a horse racing event that traditionally sees the Queen leading the Ascot Racecourse procession via her carriage, according to Express.
Instead, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, led the procession. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were also joined by the prince’s nephew, Peter Phillips, while Princess Anne was spotted greeting attendees via a horse-drawn carriage of her own.
Princess Beatrice was also seen speaking to attendees and enjoying the day's horse racing.
"I have been most grateful for the continued kindness shown to me by the racing community,” Elizabeth said in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace announcing she would not be attending.
“In my Platinum Jubilee year, I was interested to learn that in support of The Queen's Green Canopy initiative, Ascot Racecourse and the Crown Estate have planted seventy oak trees in Windsor Great Park, each of which is linked to a local school,” she continued.
"I hope you all have an enjoyable and memorable time, and I wish connections of the horses running this week the very best of luck."
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This is the first time in years that Queen Elizabeth was unable to attend Royal Ascot, citing ongoing “mobility issues” as the reason for her absence.
As RadarOnline.com reported, this is just the latest event the Queen has been forced to forgo following her mobility issues and several other alleged health woes.
Earlier this month, the 96-year-old monarch failed to attend some of the festivities during her Platinum Jubilee – a commemoration that included a four-day weekend in honor of Her Majesty’s 70-years on the throne.
In May, the Queen also didn't attend the State Opening of Parliament, marking the third time in more than 50 years that she was forced to miss the annual affair.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement at the time, revealing Elizabeth "continues to experience episodic mobility problems” and therefore “reluctantly” agreed with her physicians to skip the event.
Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, and Prince William showed up to handle her royal duties instead – something that has been increasingly more frequent as the Queen fails to attend more events.
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