Queen Elizabeth II will not attend a traditional highlight of her summer
trip to Scotland because of persistent health worries, British media said
Friday.
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The 96-year-old monarch has been dogged by problems walking and standing
since last year, forcing her to cancel a series of public engagements.
Fears about a flare-up of what royal officials call "episodic mobility
problems" have prevented her returning to London to appoint a new prime minister.
The queen had this weekend been expected to attend the Braemar Gathering
near her remote Balmoral retreat in northeast Scotland.
A decision on her withdrawal was made for her comfort, British media
reported, without quoting sources.
The event, which is always held on the first Saturday in September, is the
most famous on the Highland Games circuit.
Senior royals, including the monarch, have attended the games regularly
since the mid-19th century, to watch feats of strength and endurance.
Events include tossing the caber, in which kilted competitors endeavour to
lift and throw a full-length log of Scots Pine.
Attendees this year -- the first since 2019 because of the coronavirus
pandemic -- include the queen's eldest son and heir, Prince Charles.
The queen, who came to the throne in 1952, traditionally appoints the
country's prime minister at an audience at Buckingham Palace in London.
In a change to convention, she will perform the constitutional role at
Balmoral next week, instead of returning to the British capital.
Normally the handover of power is a swift affair, given the palace's
location, just a short distance from parliament and government offices.
But the 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometre) round-trip to the Scottish Highlands
will lengthen the process, delaying key appointments to the new government.
Boris Johnson, who resigned as Conservative party leader in July, will
formally tender his resignation as prime minister to the queen Tuesday.
She will then ask the new Tory leader -- either Foreign Secretary Liz Truss
or former finance minister Rishi Sunak -- to form a new government.
Truss and Sunak have been vying to succeed Johnson. The winner of the vote
of Tory MPs and grassroots part members closes on Friday, with the winner due
to be announced on Monday.
The next incumbent at 10 Downing Street will be the queen's 15th prime
minister of her record-breaking 70-year reign.
Her first was World War II leader Winston Churchill, who returned for a
second term of office in 1951 until 1955.
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