UK’s Johnson says Queen Elizabeth ‘on very good form’
Oct 29, 2021, 7:12 PM | Updated: Oct 30, 2021, 7:21 am
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives for a round table meeting at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
ROME (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that Queen Elizabeth II was “on very good form” during their weekly conversation earlier this week.
His comment comes a day after Buckingham Palace said the 95-year-old monarch has been told to rest by doctors for another two weeks.
“I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form,” Johnson told ITV News on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.
As prime minister, Johnson has a weekly audience with the queen. The most recent one took place virtually on Wednesday.
“She has been told by her doctors that she has got to rest and I think we have got to respect that and understand that and everybody wishes her all the very best,” Johnson said.
Last week, the queen underwent medical tests and spent a night at London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital, her first such stay in in eight years.
The queen has continued to work since then and will press on with desk-based duties.
During her rest period, she will miss attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which commences on Sunday. However, she has recorded a message that will be relayed to attendees.
She will also skip the Nov. 13 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event meant to honor the British and Commonwealth men and women who have fought wars, disasters and pandemics to protect and defend the nation.
However, the palace said it is the queen’s “firm intention” to be present for a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in central London on Nov. 14.
Britain’s longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, Elizabeth is due to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — next year.
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