Queen was ‘on very good form’ during weekly chat with Boris Johnson
The PM says people must 'respect' the need for the Queen to take some time to rest.
Boris Johnson has said the Queen was ‘on very good form’ during their weekly conversation, despite being told to rest by doctors.
The monarch will no longer travel to Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit and has been instructed by physicians to only undertake ‘desk-based duties’ for two weeks.
The development comes after the Queen, 95, underwent tests in hospital last week and cancelled a two-day trip to Northern Ireland.
She is said to be in good spirits, and yesterday afternoon recorded her Cop26 speech for the UN conference, which opens on Monday.
Johnson said the public must ‘respect’ the Queen’s need to relinquish some duties for a short period and offered an insight into her current outlook following their regular briefing.
Speaking to ITV News in Rome, where he has travelled for a G20 meeting, the Prime Minister said: ‘I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form.
‘She has been told by her doctors that she has got to rest and I think we have got to respect that and understand that and everybody wishes her all the very best.’
The Queen has ruled out the attendance at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 13.
But Buckingham Palace has said the head of state has the ‘firm intention’ of leading the nation in honouring the country’s war dead on Remembrance Sunday the next day.
In a statement yesterday, the palace said: ‘Following on from their recent advice that the Queen should rest for a few days, Her Majesty’s doctors have advised that she should continue to rest for at least the next two weeks.
‘The doctors have advised that Her Majesty can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time, including some virtual audiences, but not to undertake any official visits.’
There will be concern for the Queen given her age, but medics see the period of rest as a sensible precaution.
She appeared cheerful and in good humour when she hosted a virtual presentation ceremony on Thursday, awarding the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2020 to poet David Constantine.
It was announced last Wednesday the Queen had ‘reluctantly’ accepted medical advice to rest as she pulled out of her Northern Ireland trip – her first cancelled royal duty in 15 years.
Buckingham Palace has come under fire for failing to mention that the Queen was at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London for a night.
Initially the media was told she was resting at Windsor Castle, but aides eventually mentioned the hospital stay on Thursday night after the news leaked out.
Staff have been urged to be more transparent over the head of state’s health as a matter of public interest.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the head of state had undergone ‘preliminary investigations’ during her first overnight stay at a medical facility in eight years.
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