Queen Elizabeth Will Skip Royal Maundy and Easter Sunday Church Services for Health Reasons
Few families are as wedded to tradition as the Royals. Unfortunately, the Queen’s ailing health and persistent mobility issues have required the family adjust or altogether skip many traditions this year.
The latest special events that the Queen will miss are this weekend’s Easter Sunday church services and tonight’s annual Royal Maundy service. Instead, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will attend and hand out alms to senior citizens who’ve shown exemplary service to their churches and communities on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. The couple will uphold the religious and royal tradition of honoring “Maundy Thursday,” which marks the end of Lent and the start of Easter, as well as the date of Jesus’ last supper.
Charles and Camilla Attending More Events
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will hand out the special Maundy money to community figures at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. According to Royal sources, the two have been covering more events than ever before, in response to the Queen’s decreased mobility and growing physical discomfort when traveling.
The Queen has been forced to carefully consider her calendar of events this past year. Her declining health, diminished mobility, and reduced stamina requires a lot of rest and recovery between events. She also needs a companion to attend with her and act as insurance against a fall.
Occasionally, the Queen’s companion causes more scandal and speculation than her wellness. Such was the case when she attended last month’s commemorative thanksgiving ceremony for her late husband Philip. The Queen arrived on the arm of her son, Prince Andrew, whose history of sex scandals and assault in connection the late Jeffrey Epstein has been a stain the Royals have done their best to rub out.
The Queen is aging with dignity
For as long as she’s worn the crown, there have been just four years when the Queen was unable to attend Maundy Thursday events: 1954, 1960 (when she gave birth to Andrew), 1964 (after the birth of Prince Edward), and 1970 (when she was touring New Zealand).
Well-known and beloved for her pragmatic stoicism, Queen Elizabeth has always been a reliable figure, and as such, we’re glad she is taking steps to stay healthy and comfortable. As we all know, aging is inevitable, but how we go about doing it makes all the difference.
