The Queen has missed the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London as she has sprained her back.
Buckingham Palace said the monarch, 95, was “disappointed” not to attend the event.
The palace previously said it was the Queen’s “firm intention” to attend the service, after taking time away from her duties for health reasons.
She made the decision to miss the event “with great regret” this morning, a statement said.
As in previous years, a wreath was laid on her behalf by the Prince of Wales.
The Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and The Princess Royal also still attended as planned.
This is a blow. A blow to those gathered here on Whitehall on a grey November morning, a blow to the many who had hoped to see the Queen after a fortnight of rest, and without doubt a blow to the Queen herself – Remembrance Sunday is when she, who has devoted her life to service, pays her tribute to those who served.
It is, as one palace official puts it, “incredibly unfortunate timing”. When the palace announced that the Queen would cancel her official engagements for two weeks it went out of its way to say that it was her “firm intention” to attend the National Service of Remembrance.
It’s understood that the Queen will not need hospital treatment. It looks as if a car ride from Windsor and a period of standing in the cold watching the ceremony were just impossible given her back sprain.
In previous years, she may have weathered the pain. But there is no getting round the fact that she is 95 years old. For a period, at least, quieter times beckon.
The Remembrance Sunday service would have been her first duty in public after her hospital stay last month.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “The Queen, having sprained her back, has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today’s Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph.
“Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service.”
The Queen will be continuing light duties at Windsor.
The monarch, who lived through World War Two as a teenager, is head of the armed forces.
She has only missed six other Cenotaph ceremonies during her reign – on four occasions when she was on overseas visits and in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with her two youngest children.
Source:BBC
