Royal Family gathering at Balmoral is ‘a significant moment’

It is “quite a significant moment” that members of the Royal Family are travelling to Balmoral to be with the Queen, Sky News’ royal commentator has said.

Earlier on Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced Her Majesty has been placed under medical supervision at her Scotland residence after doctors became concerned for her health.

According to Alastair Bruce, the Palace “measures every announcement it makes very carefully” and this one is especially a matter for the Queen’s family.

Queen health fears – latest updates

“For her children to be gathering at Balmoral on the advice of those who have medical care of Her Majesty, it is quite a significant moment, and it is a matter of great concern for that family and for the nation and for other nations who look to the Queen as their head of state,” he said.

The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are all heading to the Queen’s residence in Scotland to be with her.

The Duchess of Cambridge has remained in Windsor as Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are on their first full day at their new school, Kensington Palace said.

“Undoubtedly this is a difficult time for the family, who now need to focus on being with Her Majesty, and it is a very difficult thing for the rest of us to look in and pry into where the current medical situation might take the Queen,” Mr Bruce added.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who now live in the US, were in the UK to attend the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday evening, but changed their plans to travel to see the Queen.

“I’m sure each member will be trying to get to be with the queen as quickly as possible in line with the information we are receiving,” Mr Bruce said.

“The Queen is a matriarch in so many ways, not just of the United Kingdom, but also of a family.

“It’s good to have family around us. It is complicated sometimes… but for the Queen, it is very, very important always for her to feel that her family are around, and I think that this is a family that has always gathered on particularly important occasions.”

Although the Queen has not required hospital treatment, there is “always a doctor available” for Her Majesty at Balmoral whom she has known for “years and years”, he added.

“The Queen, particularly in recent times, has benefited from a bit of extra oversight from the doctor she knows from Windsor, and it’s quite possible that that doctor will be in attendance too.”

Mr Bruce explained that the monarch will be “very comfortable” at her residence and will be given “as much good care and concern” as she requires.

“She’s also got members of staff who’ve looked after her equally for a very, very long time, and they can provide whatever is required to keep her comfortable,” he said.

Also speaking to Sky News, historian and author Anthony Seldon said: “It’s obviously worrying, isn’t it?

“We don’t know and we shouldn’t speculate what it means but it’s serious enough for the children and grandchildren to come up by her side. We haven’t seen that, that I can recall, before. So we know it’s serious and it’s bringing closer that moment and it’s preparing us for what will be a moment of absolute extraordinary importance.”

He added: “She pledged 70 years ago that she will serve for as long as she was alive and she has held good to that.

“She is the epitome, the outstanding example, of selfless service. Somebody that the whole of the country, politicians, everyone, can look up to and admire.

“She has been as good as her word, she has been completely faithful to service, to the country and to the Commonwealth. She’s also the lynchpin that holds the Commonwealth together.

“The country will come through when the sad day comes, a long time in the future we hope. But it will be extraordinary, that’s all we can say.”