Queen Elizabeth was forced to cancel her meeting with the Women’s Institute at the last minute on Thursday (23.01.20) after she was struck down with a cold.
The 93-year-old royal pulled out of her annual meeting with the Sandringham branch of the community-based organisation for women at West Newton Village Hall in Norfolk, East Anglia, England, just 30 minutes before it was due to start because she wasn’t "feeling up to it".
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told the MailOnline that Her Majesty "has a slight cold", while an insider added that her illness was "no cause for alarm."
The monarch usually joins the Women’s Institute ladies for tea and cake before she listens to a speech which, this year, was made by BBC newsreader Huw Edwards.
Queen Elizabeth joined the Sandringham branch of the WI in 1943 – before she became the monarch – and has attended each year as part of her winter break in Norfolk.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Huw said: "I’m not quite decided yet on what the ultimate message will be but I’d like to talk a little bit about the business I’m in and the way it’s changed over the years and what the challenges are now in terms of journalism and broadcasting."
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time the queen has pulled out of an engagement because of a nasty cold as back in 2016 she missed a service at St. Mary Magdalene church in Sandringham as well as the traditional Christmas morning service in Norfolk due to the illness.
However, at the time, it was believed she had turned to homeopathic cures to shake her cold.
Her absence at the event set alarm bells ringing for some people – as it was the first time in 30 years she was unable to attend the ceremony – but Buckingham Palace admitted missing the church service was a "precautionary measure" and it was nothing to be overly worried about.
They said at the time: "[It was] a precautionary measure."
Queen Elizabeth pulls out of WI meeting due to cold
