After Queen Elizabeth II cancelled a planned trip to Northern Ireland last week, Buckingham Palace confirmed she had spent a night in the hospital for the first time since 2013.
On Wednesday, the palace released a statement on the 95-year-old monarch’s health, confirming her overnight stay and advising her illness wasn’t related to Covid-19. “The Queen has reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for the next few days,” it read. “Her Majesty is in good spirits and is disappointed that she will no longer be able to visit Northern Ireland, where she had been due to undertake a series of engagements today and tomorrow. The Queen sends her warmest good wishes to the people of Northern Ireland, and looks forward to visiting in the future.”
On Thursday, a Palace spokesperson added to the previous statement, updating the public on her majesty’s health. “Following medical advice to rest for a few days, The Queen attended hospital on Wednesday afternoon for some preliminary investigations, returning to Windsor Castle at lunchtime today, and remains in good spirits,” it read.
The Queen had spent Tuesday night hosting a drinks reception at Windsor for business leaders such as Bill Gates after Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened a green investment conference ahead of the COP26 climate summit. There, she was reportedly in good health.
Despite the two separate updates from the Palace, several royal experts, correspondents, and journalists have voiced concerns about the way the firm has handled sharing information regarding the Queen’s health. In a piece on The Sun, BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, said that the media and the public “weren’t given the complete picture.”
“The problem, it seems to me, is that rumor and misinformation always thrive in the absence of proper, accurate and trustworthy information,” Witchell said.
While some have acknowledged the Queen has rights to privacy, many royal experts pointed out the public interest at play considering her role as head of state. “The Queen is entitled to privacy on medical matters, but she is our head of state and was in hospital overnight,” Daily Mail royal correspondent Rebecca English tweeted along with a video of Witchell discussing the situation. “Buckingham Palace’s statement she was resting at Windsor wasn’t true. It should have been clarified after her discharge.”
“They did mislead the media,” royal expert and biographer Ingrid Seward explained (per The Sun). “I think they were trying to protect the Queen, because she would not have wanted a fuss, but it was misleading.”
The Queen, who celebrates 70 years on the throne next year, is known for her robust health. A few days before her hospitalisation, news broke she had decided to give up alcohol at the advice of her doctors. Her husband, Prince Philip, passed away in April.
