© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Buckingham Palace moved to calm concerns over the health of Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, after she dramatically abandoned plans to travel by train to Sandringham, her country home a hundred miles north of London, with just half an hour’s notice. A source at the palace told The Daily Beast that there were not any “grave concerns” over the health of the queen or her husband, Prince Philip. However, photographers waiting to snap the queen—who in recent years has made a point of traveling to Sandringham on regular passenger service rather than using the royal train—were told “It’s not happening now” half an hour before the service to King’s Lynn was due to depart. A police source told a reporter for the Daily Express that she had been “taken ill” but there was no comment from Buckingham Palace, and security concerns following the Berlin truck attack have also been cited. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have heavy colds, and so have decided not to travel to Sandringham today”