Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. The knives are out for Queen Elizabeth’s courtiers all of a sudden! It all started because the Queen has clearly been feeling poorly in recent weeks, and it all came to a head last Tuesday, when she was supposed to set off for a two-day trip to Northern Ireland. The Queen cancelled the trip at the last minute, and now as it turns out, she was taken to the hospital soon after. She spent the night in the hospital on Tuesday, and she was back at Windsor Castle on Wednesday. The palace only released the information about the hospitalization late Thursday, and they only did that because the Sun had the scoop and they were about to run it (Who leaked it? A question for another time.) So, basically, the palace is being accused of a cover-up. The palace should have informed everyone that the head of state was in the hospital overnight.
Buckingham Palace was accused yesterday of misleading the nation over the state of the Queen’s health. Commentators including BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell questioned whether the palace had undermined public trust by failing to reveal she had been taken to hospital. The 95-year-old monarch was admitted to King Edward VII’s on Wednesday afternoon and stayed there overnight for tests.
The palace’s communications team told journalists the Queen had remained at Windsor Castle. However on Thursday night – more than 24 hours later – it confirmed she had been taken to the private hospital in London.
Unusually, the royal standard remained flying at Windsor on Wednesday, even after the Queen had left. The flag represents the sovereign and is flown only when she is present. A royal source denied it was kept aloft as part of a cover-up and said the standard did not move to every building she visited. The source said Windsor had remained the Queen’s residence, despite the overnight trip. Mr Witchell insisted journalists – and the public – ‘weren’t given the complete picture’. He added: ‘The problem, it seems to me, is that rumour and misinformation always thrive in the absence of proper, accurate and trustworthy information.’
Peter Hunt, a royal commentator and former BBC journalist, claimed there had been a ‘failed attempt’ to cover up the hospital admission. He said: ‘The media’s faith in the veracity of royal communications will have been sorely tested by the failed attempt to hide the fact the Queen spent a night in hospital. Buckingham Palace can ill afford a breakdown in trust, given all they’re dealing with.’
Palace officials are generally reluctant to disclose information relating to health matters because the Royal Family is entitled to privacy and medical confidentiality. But updates are usually provided if a senior royal is admitted to hospital, and the health of the monarch is of constitutional significance. As head of state, the Queen’s health has been subject to intense scrutiny, which increases as she gets older. The revelation that she had needed to be seen by specialists in hospital – her first overnight stay for eight years – has fuelled public concern about her health.
Mr Witchell told BBC Breakfast: ‘We are told that she’s back at Windsor Castle, undertaking light duties. Well, we must hope that we can place reliance on what the palace is telling us.’ Royal expert and biographer Ingrid Seward said: ‘They did mislead the media. I think they were trying to protect the Queen, because she would not have wanted a fuss, but it was misleading.’
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, added: ‘The Queen does have a right to a certain degree of privacy, but on the other hand she’s head of state. So does that entitle us to know exactly what ailments she may or may not have? It’s a very difficult one to get the balance right for the satisfaction of everybody.’
The bad news is that I agree with the fussy old royal commentators. It was bad enough when Prince William spent months covering up the fact that he had a bad case of Covid in the spring of 2020, but he had a better argument for medical privacy given that he’s only the second in line to the throne. I would still argue that William, Charles and the Queen should all be doing full-disclosures on the medical situations to the media, but it’s markedly different when you’re talking about the Queen specifically. She IS the head of state. No one has asked for every detail of her medical chart, but it’s perfectly reasonable to expect the public to get updated when the Queen is hospitalized!
Once again, this just proves how everything is a clownshow in Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace. These people are not competent, forward-thinking, crisis-managing adults. They behave like dumb children who can’t think six hours ahead. What did the palace courtiers think was going to happen? That they would be able to cover up the Queen’s hospitalization indefinitely and it would never get leaked? Are they truly not aware that Charles and William will leak sh-t about anyone?
MAIL: Why did palace cover up truth on Queen? #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/djuMEuL8rj
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 22, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
This is chickens coming home to roost for the British media and Buckingham Palace. When they aided and abetted each other in the abuse of Meghan, they didn’t realise what monster they were each creating. Now the Palace is beholden to their attack dogs and the media feel they are owed full access. And by the way, I hope this hammering of Buckingham Palace continues. For weeks.
Especially true when HM go dark and there are no stories for click$$$. The media needs $$$ and are turning thoughts elsewhere.
Exactly. And no matter how they want to spin it the American media and people have had their eyes opened. Now the British media have to be seen as impartial, even if they are not. They will continue to go after the Windsors to deflect attention from their racism.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate today but I hope the queen rests with her ancestors before end of this year; and to be honest, I think the queen wishes the same at this point.
I also believe the queen caught the COVID and the palaces are covering up. This 95 year old has been anywhere and everywhere without the most basic protection mask and she is always hand shaking like she is wishing to catch the COVID. There has been zero precautions with the queen, everyone around her including the queen herself is very, very sloppy. I would’t be surprised if the queen wishes to die now since Phillip passed away.
They took her alcohol away so what does she really have to look forward to every day?
I’m with fluffybunny, I think she had the DT’s. and had to go to the hospital for it. She’s been drinking heavily for decades and is now really old and trying to stop. It’s not going to be pretty. Charles and William better hide. She’s going to have a short fuse for awhile.
If Charles really wants to slim the monarchy, he should start by cleaning the castle. Fire ALL the courtiers and start fresh with new hires. Lol, that would be hilarious.
I think it’s too late for that. At this point I wonder if the courtiers have more power than the royals. They know all the secrets and where the bodies are buried & there are times where I think they’re intentionally torturing their employers because they can & they have years of resentment and low pay to fuel their ire.
Spot on! The courtiers are the king makers and can make or break anyone. There will be plots and counter plots as they all vie and jostle for position and power plus as the buffers between their bosses and the press they sometimes act as double agents. Sounds like all the houses are in deep trouble. It’s all kicking off.
Problem is their pool of applicants. People they went to school with, members of the aristocracy, or aristocracy-adjacent. Sycophants & nepotism hires. They’d be better off with a merit-based hiring system, but they wouldn’t know how to go about it.
Explains why the Keens were seen at Heathrow last week. They leaked then fled the country.
Yeah.. but Keens cat out the bag too
DU- Yes! When the queen canceled her NI trip I bet someone (Dan Wooten? Though he left the Sun) called in his chit with William, William told him the truth about the queens hospitalization, then arranged a little photo op at the airport before they all jetted off for the week, probably to separate locations.
That may put the press off the Cambridge’s for awhile… or not.
I think it’s funny that the Royal rota is complaining about being misled by the Palace when Harry and Meghan told them this in March. It just proves that that these royal reporters are not real journalists but stenographers/propagandists for the Palace. I have no sympathy for either side in this story. It’s what they deserve. I do think some of this anger from press is also because the Palace has stopped briefing against Harry and Meghan. They’ll get back on the same page when Harry and Meghan don’t return for Christmas.
100% this. So much proves that what Harry& Meghan said on Oprah was right. “They were willing to lie to protect other members of the family but were unwilling to tell the truth to protect me and my husband”.
The palace lied to the press telling them that the queen was resting at Windsor when she was actually in hospital. The statement put out to the press was presumably to protect the queen’s privacy. Even the articles that have been taken down because of pap pics of the Cambridges or when Tatler profile was edited and lines that William had ITV remove from a documentary proves that the firm can use its press relationships to remove content they don’t like but didn’t do that for the many many hitpieces on Meghan.
I think the press are disgustingly entitled over the royal family’s private health matters but the palace didn’t seem to mind encouraging that entitlement when it suited with reports that william didn’t agree with keeping Archie’s birth private without pushback.
I personally think the palace should have just said she had cancelled the NI trip because she needed to rest& said there will be no further comment at this stage. Then they could have updated on the hospital visit once they felt able to do so. The palace is a publicly funded institution so they should be scrutinised for lying to the public.
It was hilarious to see royal reporters like Robert Jobson, Richard Palmer etc go on about the palace lying to them. I’m sure they are only mad about this because they are usually in on pushing the palace’s lies eg reports Meghan is a bully. Whereas this time they were kept in the dark& found out the palace lied to them.
Yes Palmer having a fit was especially hypocritical when he never questioned the lies about Meghan and Harry. And he would have known they were lies because he was well aware of the family basically distancing themselves from them and he was openly admitting that is what they were doing.
Well the rota chose a side and it was the less profitable one.
Gosh maybe I am in the minority here ,I have always thought it was a gross invasion to demand knowing the state of the royals health/birth updates as it happens. They cant even give her 72 hrs? She is a figure head its not like she is the PM.
I’m right there with you honestly. Waiting a day to let the entire world know you had a brief hospital stay at 95 years old, I think its perfectly understandable.
If she paid her own bills with HER own $$, the bill payers have a right to know. Pitfall of colonialism/parasitism
Or we could just get rid of them which would be far preferable.
Figurehead or not, she’s still Head of State and has constitutional duties. I agree that everyone is entitled to medical privacy but it’s a grey area when you’re, again, Head of State. Especially if her being in the hospital could have meant that she couldn’t do said constitutional duties (which has a domino effect for the rest of the country. For example: laws aren’t considered laws until she signs them). I doubt that happened here but it’s still something to think about
The Queen might be a figurehead in effect, but by law she’s the head of state, she’s the commander-in-chief. It’s not an issue of KP vs RR, the public has a right to know if its sovereign is in poor health.
They (betty, the RotaRats & all the other royals) lost the privilege of our consideration for their privacy when they all (betty, the RotaRats & all the other royals) denied H&M their humanity (including their privacy.)
Charm, I 💯 agree with you on this.
I do too, well said.
Ceremonial though her role may be, the Queen is still the head of state, and so whether or not she’s up for the demands of her job is very much a matter of public interest.
If she wants to just do ribbon cutting and horse shows, then she should abdicate, at which time whether or not she’s drinking cocktails or checking in to the hospital will be none of our beeswax. But if you’re the monarch, public scrutiny and keeping public trust comes with the job.
I felt the same way about William covering up his case of Covid and also, for what it’s worth, when a personal hero of mine ran for public office here in Canada a few years ago without disclosing that he was battling cancer. If you are asking people to put their trust in you, honesty seems the honourable thing to do.
Buckingham palace still seems to operate in the 19th century thinking that they can cover this stuff up and pay no penalty for it.
This is the most sane take I’ve read and I agree.
We don’t need to know her urine output, but the fact that she was taken in for tests and stayed overnight seems like pertinent information.
Well she has always followed Queen Mary’s Playbook and PWT said he follows his grandma’s guidance….So…
American media would be upset if the health of the president was hidden as well. I mean we do have issues of the lies about Trump’s mental health and during his Covid illness, but generally when the president has to go to a hospital, even if it’s for a test, they let the media know even if they don’t provide a lot of detail.
BP should have advised them that she was going for an overnight test at the hospital. They didn’t need to provide details beyond that, but they were deceptive in keeping the standard up when she was not in residence.
(Also I am old enough to recall the fiasco about flying a flag at half mast when Diana died and how they supposedly couldn’t fly anything because the Queen was at Balmoral)
I’m sure there is a plan for if the queen can’t fulfill her duties. Its not really comparable to the POTUS, whos health could effect the entire world. I’m honestly surprised trump never lobbed any nukes around with his mental state.
The Queen is the head of state and the equivalent to the president so it is the same as the US president. And she is the head of their military and so if she made an order that was crazy in theory the military had to listen. She just happens to rely on the advice of the PM.
The U.S. President has many more daily responsibilities and far-reaching powers than the queen. Does the queen have nuclear codes at her access?
They didn’t delay, they actively lied about the queen. They didn’t intend to release the information at all until it was leaked. Big difference.
“ Palace officials are generally reluctant to disclose information relating to health matters because the Royal Family is entitled to privacy…”
Unless you are a certain bi-racial Duchess or the Prince who dared marry her, then all your shiznit is fair game, I guess. Honestly, the caucasity of those people…
They forgot this when they demanded that Meghan, still bleeding, pose with her child on the steps of the hospital. When she refused, they called her every name under the sun.
Everything you both said.
And Valentine Low was one of many aware of when she was asking for help because of the suicidal ideation. So they didn’t keep that quiet either.
But even with all this there was no uproar from the right wing about how dare she? No front pages all over the place about how dare she keep things for us?
Again it shows the targeted harassment and vileness they put Meghan and Harry though aided by the likes of piers Morgan, gmb, the rota and British tabloids.
It was relentless for Meghan after giving birth to Archie from all angles.
Meanwhile for the Queen & William it’s crickets except a few raising some noise.
Exactly it’s very interesting to see how restrained the press were after being lied to about the queens hospital stay & about William covid diagnosis in comparison to their reaction when Meghan had archie & they didn’t have hourly updates.
Also interesting that royal fans suddenly understand you can be a public figure & still be entitled to privacy.
So she’s allowed medical privacy yet it was these rota rats that demanded an hour by hour update of Meghan giving birth to Archie.
As I said above, yes she’s allowed to have privacy but she’s also head of state and has legal, constitutional duties. If this hospital stay affected her in a way she can’t do those duties, the public has a right to know. I’m not saying a 1 night stay affected her like that but something to keep in mind for the future.
So interesting. The narrative used to be “Everything will be fine once Horrible Bully Meghan goes away.” Things don’t look so fine now, do they?
Yup! And the walls are beginning to close in on them! The rats must be fed, one way or another, which is exactly why they are all up in arms about not being informed at the moment that she was in the hospital.
They have smelled blood and they like it. There is no turning back! They saw the riches of acting like rabid dogs, how much their earnings exploded. It’s now too late to call then off. Beware of the monster that you created, as it may turn and bite you back!
In my humble opinion, if petty Betty and her people want her to have complete privacy regarding her medical health, not saying we need to know every detail. I am simply saying, if she wants that privacy so badly, then she should retire, move to the country and go enjoy the privacy and rest her wealth and privileges can afford her especially someone of her age. There she can drink and enjoy her dogs and horses.
The real story here is that someone in the limited circle who knew the real details went rogue and told the truth to The Sun. Someone who knew they would get away with it. Just makes me really really wonder what exactly they have on William. Photos where he is physically affectionate with another woman? Text streams arranging assignations? It is something that makes William jump pretty high that he can give up the Queen’s private health info to the tabs.
I thought it was leaky Willy, too!
I’m thinking Charles. The tabs have been gunning for him hard lately. Maybe the leak was in exchange for a cover up for some new scandal.
Well interesting that Charles has written some article about the environment for the Sun today…
Ah, another dose of karma for the rota rats.
The RRs got a reality check that with the invisible contract with the royals the rays. are not equal partners nor do they have the upper hand so much. BP just reminded them they are the help.
For anyone who thinks the Queen just has symbolic power, I would point you to how she got an Australian PM Gough Whitlam removed in the 1970s, which is partly why they had a referendum to become a republic.
The Queen has not interfered much (that we know of) as a matter of custom but she still has a lot of power. (I think since Australia and Canada have repatriated their constitutions she may not have as much direct power there, but in the UK she only has to take advice of the PM and cabinet ministers. She is not required to listen to them.
Just because she is an old lady many feel like she won’t do anything, and at this point she likely won’t outside of money issues for her own self interest. But part of the issue with concerns about Charles is that he has been more interfering and we have only started to see what William will do and it’s not good. And they have to power to do a lot more than people expect. Because that’s the position of a hereditary head of state. They can’t be replaced and many will kowtow to their desires because they won’t be gone after four or eight years.
As well as the duty the palace has in keeping her constituents informed of basic health information, shouldn’t something be formally stated as regards Charles’ status? What is he now? Shadow King? King Regent? Now that it’s clearly apparent the Queen is in shaky health, shouldn’t his role be formalized publicly? And don’t get me started on the optics of the Dolittles hiving off on some luxe vacation while the kingdom crumbles. Jeez, this f*cking family and their gang of useless, manipulative sycophants just don’t get it.
I believe I smelt william on this with the alcohol leak. William wants to jump the line. Like I said he is evil, diabolical, and the queen and Charles are in his and the Middlebots sights.
Running quickly out of town with children in tow, with elderly queen being sick says it all. If harry, a thousand miles away, was roasted when Phillip was sick and didn’t come home, how bad for willy to go out of town, with “Gan gan” Ill, does that look?. The skunk spraying and leaving the room. The leaker is still leaking, what a punk.
It’ll be interesting to see if they put W&K through the wringer for leaving the country–for a vacation, no less–with TQ so recently out of the hospital. Oh, who am I kidding, they’ll somehow put H&M in the crosshairs for not coming back with TQ so recently out of the hospital.
Anyone else think Harry and Meghan will use this week the Cambs are away to pop in to see TQ? I don’t think they had planned on coming so early, but I can see them reacting to her heath scare by last-minute traveling to GB to introduce her to Lili.
Bonus if that happens— 1. they won’t have to see W&K, 2. they’ll make W&K look even worse for being on holiday when TQ is sick, 3. They have an justifiable excuse for taking a private jet (last minute emergency) and 4. They could pop into a rando church in London to have Lili baptized like it’s NBD whatevs.
@Margaret: Agree 100% with all you have said above.
p.s. “…what a punk” is my dad’s favorite epithet – thanks for the laugh!
When the queens trip to NI was cancelled a lot of posters here asked why these two didnt go in her place and the most common guess was because they went on vacation. Nice to see confirmation, this site gets it right most of the time. Entitled and selfish confirmed too.
Also was mentioned by a poster on another thread, wasn’t it agreed a member of RF was to accompany Her Madge on each outing so even if she dropped out, it could go ahead?
Is their opting for a holiday proof that Big Willy is in charge and calls the shots or another indication that no one would trust either one with a delicate mission to NI? Apart from wearing a lot of green what could either have contributed to NI?
This shows how right Meghan was in that interview. They lied to protect the others, while never telling the truth to protect them. Also, they suddenly understand privacy perfectly well. Already they’re eyeing the grave for this woman and writing in The NY Times how neither Charles nor William will ever fill her shoes. Whatever is going on with the press abd the palace is their problem to deal with. They just want fawning propaganda and the press to be their tool to use at will, which they have willingly done, so no tears for them when the palace screws them and lies to covers up the health of the head of state. The public is entitled to know this but the press , and the palace, wants it both ways. People who cover and fluff up the royals, lie fir them suddenly remember their job is to report accurately.