Queen pulls out of engagements after falling unwell

Queen Camilla has been taken out of action after being unwell.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen is unwell with a chest infection and she has been told to rest.

The 77-year-old was scheduled to attend the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

Queen Camilla has also pulled out of the Buckingham Palace reception for Olympic and Paralympic athletes hosted by the King.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: ‘Her Majesty The Queen is currently unwell with a chest infection, for which her doctors have advised a short period of rest.

‘With great regret, Her Majesty has therefore had to withdraw from her engagements for this week but she very much hopes to be recovered in time to attend this weekend’s Remembrance events as normal.

‘She apologises to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.’

Camilla is understood to be resting at home now.

The palace has been tight-lipped about any further details regarding her illness or treatment.

However, she is thought to be under doctors’ supervision.

Who has stepped in to cover for the Queen?

The Duchess of Gloucester has stepped in to attend the Field of Remembrance opening at Westminster Abbey this week.

The Duchess, Birgitte, is the wife of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Duke of Gloucester who is a full-time working member of the royal family.

Birgitte, 78, who was born in Denmark, married into the Windsor family after meeting Prince Richard in the late 1960s while studying at Cambridge University.

When were King Charles and Camilla last seen?

The pair returned to the UK from the royal tour of Australia and Samoa – the monarch’s biggest overseas trip since he started cancer treatment.

They were pictured at a beach in Apia, Samoa, before their return to the less sunny UK at the end of October.

Charles said he ‘genuinely loved’ the tour.

Buckingham Palace said it lifted ‘his spirits, his mood and his recovery.’

However, the tour didn’t go entirely without a hitch as King Charles was confronted by Indigenous activists twice in Australia.

Senator Lidia Thorpe interrupted his speech in Canberra, accusing him of ‘genocide’ against First Nations people.

Another campaigner told Charles in Sydney what the First Nations people want is ‘own sovereignty’ and ‘we’ve got a long way to achieve what we want.’

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