Queen visits horse show after health concerns

Queen Elizabeth II made a rare public appearance on Friday, two days after being forced to miss the opening of the UK parliament for the first time in nearly 60 years due to ill health and advanced age.

The 96-year-old monarch was seen smiling as she arrived at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, dressed in a white shirt, blue cardigan, and tinted glasses.

She spoke to a group of people through the open window of her Range Rover before donning a headscarf and went to the royal box with a walking stick.

British media reports said the lifelong horse lover spent almost an hour at the parade ring at the show, which is near her Windsor Castle home west of London.

Buckingham Palace announced on Monday night that the queen would not officially open parliament on Tuesday — the first time she had missed the event since 1963.

Officials blamed her absence on “episodic mobility problems” — understood to be difficulties walking and standing — that have dogged her since last year.

An unscheduled overnight hospital stay last October and frailty have seen her withdraw from a string of public engagements.

She was last seen in public at the end of March, at the Westminster Abbey memorial service for her late husband, Prince Philip.

At that event, she used a walking stick and required assistance to get to her seat.

Her dwindling appearances, plus a bout of Covid earlier this year, have fuelled concerns for her health in her record-breaking 70th year on the throne.

Four days of public celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee are planned for early June, including military parades and a public pageant, as well as picnics and a pop concert.

Her eldest son Prince Charles, 73, stood in at the state opening of parliament, in the clearest sign yet that her reign is coming to a close.

A YouGov survey for Times Radio conducted this week indicated a shift in public opinion towards the queen, who has repeatedly insisted her job is for life.

Polling of 1,990 people on Tuesday and Wednesday suggested one in three (34 percent) believed she should now retire — up from 25 percent last month.

Just under half of the respondents (49%) think she should keep her title, a drop of ten points from last month.

At the same time, public opinion of Charles has improved, with 36% now feeling he would make a good king, up four points from April.