Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to attend Remembrance Sunday ceremony

Queen Elizabeth attends the National Service of Remembrance in London in 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II, who cancelled a series of engagements on health advice, will attend this weekend's Remembrance Sunday ceremony honouring military veterans and war dead from Britain and the Commonwealth, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday (Nov 11).

The 95-year-old monarch will be at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London on Sunday to take part in the annual commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony.

"As in previous years, Her Majesty will view the service from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building," a statement read.

Britain's longest-serving monarch caused public concern in late October after it was revealed that she spent a night in hospital after undergoing unspecified medical tests.

She then resumed "light duties" but pulled out of a scheduled attendance at the UN climate change summit in Glasgow after being advised to rest.

Next week, she was due to attend the opening session of the national assembly of the Church of England which she heads, the General Synod said on Tuesday.

But "mindful of her doctors' recent advice, The Queen has decided not to attend", the statement said.

Prince Edward, her youngest son, would attend as planned, it added.

Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father, King George VI, in 1952 and next year is her Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year on the throne.

She returned to her Windsor Castle residence, west of London, on Tuesday, after a long-planned weekend away at her Sandringham estate in eastern England.

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The palace has previously said it was her "firm intention" to attend the Remembrance Sunday event, which brings together veterans, their families and political leaders.

The Queen, who pulled out of the separate Festival of Remembrance event on Saturday, is head of the Armed Forces and served as a mechanic during World War II.

Royal aides have blamed a busy recent schedule that had left her "exhausted" but she was recently seen driving in the grounds of Windsor.

At a public event in Brixton, south London, on Thursday, her eldest son and heir was asked by one onlooker: "Prince Charles, how is your mother?"

"She's alright," he replied.

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