London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Queen not attending Commonwealth Day service, says palace

Queen not attending Commonwealth Day service, says palace

Monarch, who recently recovered from Covid, ‘will continue with other planned engagements’

The Queen will not attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The 95-year-old monarch, who is the head of the Commonwealth, had hoped to join the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the event, after recently recovering from Covid-19.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “After discussing the arrangements with the royal household, the Queen has asked the Prince of Wales to represent Her Majesty at the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

“The Queen will continue with other planned engagements, including in-person audiences, in the week ahead.”

It is thought the decision was not due to any illness, but to discussions about the comfort of getting the Queen to and from the service.

She will instead send a video message to the congregation. The celebration is a favourite of the monarch, with music, poetry and speeches performed in an ode to the “family of nations”.

Guests will also include Boris Johnson, Commonwealth secretary-general Lady Scotland, high commissioners, ambassadors, senior politicians and dignitaries from across the UK and Commonwealth, faith leaders and more than 600 schoolchildren and young people.

The palace confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester would not be attending the service, as the Duke had tested positive for coronavirus.

The news comes days after it was announced that the Queen will be moving out of Buckingham Palace and into her residence in Windsor Castle for the foreseeable future. She had been undertaking “light duties”, the palace said, since a bout of ill-health, though was not currently ill.

However, she is known to have suffered from mobility issues. The monarch regularly uses a walking stick and recently spoke about her physical health, telling two senior military officers who asked how she was during a Windsor Castle reception: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move.”

Instead, she is thought to be pacing herself before her 96th birthday celebrations in six weeks.

The Queen last cancelled an appearance at the Commonwealth Day service nine years ago in 2013, when she was recovering from a bout of gastroenteritis. Before that, she hadn’t missed a single service for 20 years, the last occasion being when she caught flu in 1993.

The Queen returned to in-person events on Monday, when she welcomed Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to Windsor Castle. She was pictured sharing a joke with the politician at the start of their meeting – and was using a walking stick.

Prior to her Covid infection, her last public in-person meeting was on 5 February, when she hosted a reception at her home in Sandringham to celebrate her platinum jubilee.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Prince Harry has confirmed he will not return to the UK for Prince Philip’s memorial service on 29 March.

However, the Duke of Sussex did hope to visit his grandmother the Queen soon, the spokesperson said.

In February, the Duke launched legal action against the Home Office for denying his family access to police protection when they visit the country. He was last in Britain in the summer of 2021, to unveil a statue of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, at Kensington Palace.

On the same trip his security was compromised when his car was chased by paparazzi photographers as he left a charity event.

A legal representative of the Duke said that he feels his family are “unable to return home because it is too dangerous”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
×