THE QUEEN is to miss this summer’s garden parties in Buckingham Palace and at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The 96-year-old monarch has mobility problems and has cancelled a number of engagements recently.
Other members of the Royal Family will fill in the for the Queen.
The Edinburgh party is due to take place on 29 June. It’s the first event at the palace in three years.
The Queen - who is celebrating her platinum jubilee - is due to address MPs and Lords next Tuesday at the state opening of Parliament.
She has only missed the ceremony twice in her 70 year reign–in 1959 and in 1963 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively.
Last October, the monarch spent a night in hospital, and only carried out light duties for three months.
That was shortly after she officially opened the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.
Earlier this week, the Sun on Sunday claimed that the head of state would be spending more time in Scotland in a bid to encourage Scots to back remaining in the union.
A royal source told the paper: “Protocol prevents her from expressing a political opinion but she wants the people of Scotland to know of her wish that they reject independence.
"The country and Balmoral has been an incredibly important part of her life. She has always been keen to stress that she is the Queen of the entire UK."
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: "We welcome the recognition from the palace that a referendum on independence will take place, and advise royal sources to inform Boris Johnson.”
It is not the first time the independence debate has seen alleged royal interventions.
In the run-up to the 2014 independence referendum, the Queen told a royal follower outside Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire: “Well, I hope people will think very carefully about the future.”
And then-prime minister David Cameron found himself at the centre of controversy when he claimed she had “purred” down the phone when he rang her to tell her Scotland had voted to remain in the UK.
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