Queen returns to Windsor Castle with ‘firm intention’ to attend Remembrance Sunday

Buckingham Palace says Queen intends to attend annual Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying service

(Getty Images)

The Queen has returned to Windsor Castle after spending the weekend at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

On Tuesday, the monarch, 95, is understood to have flown back to her Berkshire residence by helicopter.

The news comes after the Queen cancelled a trip to Northern Ireland and missed the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow that she had been planning to attend.

Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was told to rest and not travel by royal doctors three weeks ago, when she spent a night in hospital to undergo a series of medical checks and preliminary tests.

It was the first time the Queen had stayed overnight in hospital in years.

Now, Buckingham Palace has said the Queen has a “firm intention” to attend the annual Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, which will take place on Sunday 14 November.

However, she will not attend the annual Festival of Remembrance, which will take place on Saturday night at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Instead of attending Cop26 in person, the Queen delivered a speech remotely via video in which she urged world leaders attending the UN climate summit to “rise above the politics of the moment”.

“I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship,” she said.

“History has shown that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope.”

The Queen also paid tribute to her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away in April at the age of 99.

Her Majesty referred to “my dear late husband” and said she was happy to welcome the delegates because the environment was a subject close to Prince Philip’s heart.

The monarch also said she “could not be more proud” that Philip’s environmental efforts live on through the work of their eldest son, Prince Charles and his son Prince William.

In June 2022, she will mark her Platinum Jubilee, which will be the first time any British royal has reached such a milestone.