Queen to resume full work duties in autumn

Her Majesty will return to a schedule that includes the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow

THE Queen will resume her full workload with Palace officials outlining a packed autumn schedule of appointments after a year and a half of disruption.

Her Majesty will join world leaders at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in two months after the pandemic suspended the event last year.

The summit is expected to attract 120 heads of state, including US President Joe Biden, as well as Pope Francis and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

An estimated 20,000 accredited delegates will also be in tow.

The 95-year-old monarch is currently on her annual trip to Balmoral and will be in Scotland to attend the reception on Nov 1.

Alok Sharma, Cop26’s president, posted on Twitter that he was “absolutely delighted” about the Queen’s upcoming visit.

An estimated 10,000 officers drawn from across the UK will be deployed each day during the conference with Police Scotland describing it as “the most complex and complicated” event ever staged in the country.

The Prince of Wales is also reportedly expected to address the summit.

It is one of six engagements listed for the Queen on the official royal website, but it is understood the announcements made yesterday do not amount to her full autumn programme. The exact details of the role the Queen will take during the event were not immediately clear but the meeting marks a critical moment for the planet.

Her upcoming arrival comes after a major scientific report warned earlier this month of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding unless targets in reducing carbon emissions were met.

Hundreds of scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said “immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions” were needed to prevent temperatures breaching goals ratified in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

António Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, had said the findings represented “code red for humanity” with many scientists saying countries had fallen far short of keeping temperature increases below 2C.

The Cop26 conference marks one of many events the Queen is due to undertake. On Oct 2 she will attend the opening ceremony for the sixth session of the devolved Scottish Parliament alongside the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

The Queen will address MSPS at Holyrood’s official opening as part of a special ceremony that will celebrate the efforts of “local heroes” during the pandemic. Next up, and accompanied by the Earl of Wessex, she will launch The Queen’s Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games from the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Oct 7. A few days later on Oct 12, the Queen will be accompanied by the Princess Royal at a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of the Royal British Legion.

On Oct 14, the Queen will attend the opening ceremony of the sixth session of the Senedd where, according to the Welsh Parliament’s website, she will make a speech in the Senedd’s chamber.

The Queen had earlier this year withdrawn from public duties for two weeks following the death of her husband Prince Philip in April.