Queen Elizabeth pulls out of Maundy Day service

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II, 95, who has been suffering from mobility problems, will not attend next week’s Maundy Day service which is normally a fixture in her annual calendar, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

The monarch, who will turn 96 next month, will instead be represented by her son and heir Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, it said.

The queen, currently in her record-breaking 70th year on the throne, has not attended a high-profile event outside her homes apart from a memorial service for her late husband Prince Philip last week since she spent a night in hospital last October.