Queen Elizabeth misses Remembrance Sunday service after spraining her back

Queen Elizabeth.
(Image credit: Andrew Milligan-Pool/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth sprained her back and was unable to attend the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said the 95-year-old monarch "decided ... with great regret" not to go to the event, held to honor those who have died in war, and was "disappointed" to miss the service. Several other members of the royal family did attend, and Prince Charles laid a wreath on his mother's behalf.

The queen's last public event was more than three weeks ago, when she hosted business leaders at Buckingham Palace. The next evening, she spent the night in the hospital, and was ordered by her doctor to rest. On Thursday, Buckingham Palace said the queen was going to attend the Remembrance Sunday service, and a person close to the royals told CNN her decision not to go had nothing to do with her earlier health issues.

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On Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters during a press conference about the COP26 climate summit that he wanted to "reassure everybody by saying that I did see the queen for an audience last week on Wednesday in Windsor, and she's very well. It shouldn't need saying but I just wanted to say it anyway."

Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.