Prince Charles cut a lone figure this morning as he was spotted at a traditional Sunday church service at Balmoral without the Queen as she stayed home.
Her Majesty, who has been staying in the Scottish Highlands on her summer vacation since July, was not part of the congregation at the weekly service at Crathie Kirk today.
The monarch, who regularly attended the small church during her stay at the royal estate the previous year, was not seen in public since her trip until her summer retreat in July.
In recent weeks, various members of the royal family have been seen making the short journey to the small church while staying at the royal estate.
These include Prince Edward, Lady Louise Windsor and Vice Admiral Sir Time Laurence, with Prince Charles spotted alone at today’s service.
However, the monarch, who has been a regular attendee in the past, has not been pictured attending services at the venue since traveling for her summer retreat in July.
In recent months, the 96-year-old has canceled a number of appointments due to concerns about her mobility and health.
This includes the swearing-in of the new prime minister in the Scottish castle this week in a break from tradition after it was decided not to return to London for the ceremony.
Prince Charles was pictured leaving the traditional Sunday church service at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral this morning
The Queen has attended the service in the past, but has not been photographed since arriving at the royal estate on July 21 (pictured)
In previous years, Her Majesty has been a regular at the little church. Here she is pictured arriving at church with Lady Louise Windsor in 2019
In Her Majesty’s absence, Charles resumed his role – last week he attended the Braemer Gathering in her place, raising further concerns about his health.
But insiders say she has stayed away to ensure she is in the best possible health to welcome her 15th prime minister at Balmoral on Tuesday.
It will be the first time the Queen has welcomed a new Prime Minister there – but the arrangement is ‘BP [Buckingham Palace] is coming to Balmoral,” an insider said.
Despite the mobility issues, the Queen is said to be adamant that she will not demand Prince Charles be part of the ceremony. It did, however, mean that Her Majesty thought it more prudent to rest yesterday.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson – stepping down after three years at No 10 – will travel first to meet the Queen. Afterwards, the monarch will hold a private audience with the new prime minister in the Balmoral drawing room. A photo, but no video footage, will be posted.
And the next day, a “virtual” meeting of the Privy Council should take place via video call. The new setting for the ‘kissing hands’ meeting was decided to save the 96-year-old monarch from having to make the 1,000-mile round trip to Buckingham Palace.
While the Queen rests, Charles, known in Scotland as the Duke of Rothesay, represented his mother at the Highland Games.
At the Braemar Gathering on Friday, the Prince of Wales used a pair of garden shears to cut a rope of briar and unveil a new £80,000 arch to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.
Charles and Camilla joined in a round of applause as host Robert Lovie said: “We miss his presence.”
Peter Fraser, president of the Braemar Royal Highland Society, said: “We were sad but understood the Queen could not come as she has been a worthy patron for all these 70 years.”
Her Majesty’s absence comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex return to the UK amid fresh furor over mockery over the Royal Family.
Concern over the Queen’s health has been raised after she failed to attend her beloved Braemar Gathering yesterday, with Prince Charles representing her
Sources have claimed the Queen (pictured in June), who is now 96 and has pulled out of a series of public events in recent months amid lingering health fears, does ‘not want to be breathless “and constantly waits for the ‘next nuke’
Tensions rose further last week after an interview which saw Meghan suggest the Sussexes had been forced to cross the Atlantic because ‘by existing we are upsetting the dynamics of the hierarchy’.
Speaking to US magazine The Cut, she also claimed her husband had ‘lost’ his father, with sources close to the couple claiming it was not a reference to Prince Charles but his split from his own father.
Royal insiders called the interview, which also saw Meghan comparing herself to Nelson Mandela, “outrageous” and expressed concerns about the impact of their comments on the Queen.
One said the Queen didn’t “want to be on hot coals” and constantly waiting for the “next nuclear bomb”.
A friend of Charles said he was hurt by the couple’s continued ‘painful’ comments.
Sources say Harry, Meghan and his 73-year-old grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, are ‘loved and missed’, and feel particularly hurt after spending time with them during the Platinum Jubilee in June.
The Duchess of Sussex gave an explosive interview to The Cut – part of New York magazine
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured with Archie and Lilibet in a Christmas card released on December 23, 2021
Charles is believed to have seen their time together as a ‘minor act of reparation’ after Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 which saw Harry say he felt ‘really let down’ by his father.
Coinciding with the launch of her new Spotify podcast, the Duchess of Sussex claimed she had been compared to South African hero Nelson Mandela and claimed Harry had ‘lost’ his father Charles during the Megxit.
In her extensive interview with The Cut, running to over 6,000 words, Meghan said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘shaking up the dynamics of the hierarchy’ before stepping down as senior royals.
She also said it takes “a lot of effort” to forgive and hinted she could “say anything” after signing no confidentiality agreements with the Royal Family.
Sources in royal circles have since hit back at the couple, calling their tirades against the lives of working royals “delusional” and “tragic” – and sensationally suggesting they “oppose the system as much as they do.” ‘they still do’, even after Megxit to support public and therefore commercial interest for their ‘brand’.
The couple’s actions also appear to contradict the public statement they issued in January 2020, after reaching an agreement with the Queen to leave royal life, in which they promised that “all they do will continue to defend the values of Her Majesty”.
At the so-called ‘Sandringham summit’, Harry gave up his military appointments and their public funding was cut, allowing them to travel to the US where they signed multi-million pound deals with Spotify and Netflix .
Regardless, the Queen has repeatedly said the Sussexes remain “much loved” by the Royal Family.
But a source told The Sunday Times: ‘It’s hard to see how what they are doing would align with the values of the Queen, who has never encouraged people to discuss deeply personal family relationships in public.
His communications team declined to comment when Mail Online asked about the palace insiders’ remarks. A spokesperson for the Sussexes did not immediately respond to a request for information.