Wednesday evening
Just after 6pm, Buckingham Palace informs reporters that the Queen, who has reigned for 70 years, has postponed the Privy Council meeting scheduled for the evening after being ‘advised by doctors to rest’.
Thursday morning
Fears for the Queen’s health increase as news breaks among MPs in the House of Commons. The Labour MP Chris Bryant tweets that, ‘Something odd is going on in the Commons. [Cabinet minister Nadhim] Zahawi briefing the PM urgently.’ Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer are both passed notes before hurriedly leaving the chamber.
Thursday lunchtime
Just after 12.30, a statement from Buckingham Palace follows: ‘Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.’
As the House of Commons debates the government’s £150bn energy price scheme, the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, briefly intervenes to say that ‘our best wishes’ were with the monarch, and that he would update MPs if there was any more news.
Hoyle says: ‘I know I speak on behalf of the entire house when I say that we send our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen, and that she and her family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment.’
Thursday afternoon
News emerges that the Queen’s children – Charles, Edward, Anne and Andrew – are either already with her in Balmoral or on their way.
Meanwhile, Liz Truss says ‘the whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime’.
The PM, who visited the Queen at her Balmoral residence in Scotland on Tuesday, adds: ‘My thoughts - and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom - are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time’. Keir Starmer also said he was ‘deeply worried’ by news of the Queen’s ill health.
Crowds begin to gather outside Buckingham Palace, Balmoral and Windsor, some in tears, as heavy rain lashes Britain.
Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders offer their prayers for the Queen’s health, as former PMs Tony Blair and David Cameron express their concern. The traditional Changing of the Guard, scheduled for Friday morning, is cancelled. BBC One suspends its normal programming to run rolling news coverage, with presenter Huw Edwards and his guests wearing a black tie.
A plane carrying the Princes William, Andrew and Edward lands in Aberdeen at around 4pm, where a car is waiting to take them to Balmoral.
Prince Harry’s spokesperson confirms he is en route, although his wife Meghan is not with him — she is said to be joining at a later date. They had been in the UK for a charity event in London. The Duchess of Cambridge is also not on the flight to Aberdeen, having stayed in Cambridge to pick up their children from school.