The Queen is in hospital

I don’t think we know what the problem was with the Queen, but it’s true that Gastroenteritis is very unpleasant.

Gastroenteritis is common if this was what the queen was suffering .Been there and very painful.

Aveline

Alegrias I do get it. I'm in a state of exasperation about it all. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions! Meanwhile what can realistically be done without the concerted will of all the key players.

Yes, sorry Aveline, I didn't mean to be dismissive.

It's interesting when these talks are arranged no one will initially commit to attending until they see who else is attending, so it all becomes a circus.

Anniebach

Who in the royal family borrows Elton John’s private jet ?

Harry and Meghan.

Alegrias I do get it. I'm in a state of exasperation about it all. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions! Meanwhile what can realistically be done without the concerted will of all the key players.

The talk by business is no longer about halting climate change but about mitigation. I overheard this eavesdropping by accident on a business conference call. I was rather shocked by it tbh, so like Alegrias I think the talks will fail.

Who in the royal family borrows Elton John’s private jet ?

Well that’s alright then. Next time I go on holiday to a Greek island, I’ll borrow Elton’s private jet. Then I’ll be just like the royals. Oh, and when I go on holiday in Britain I’ll borrow the helicopter that the royals use.

I don't think you really understand what's going on Aveline.

COPs 1 - 25 were valid in their own right; agreements were made. Obama flew into Copenhagen on the last day waving his cheque book but didn't actually follow up on any of the promises made. The Paris agreements were completely ignored by the countries that signed up to them, to such an extent that the UN announced this week that there's no hope of meeting the targets at all.

So COP26 could discuss how we are going to mitigate the climate change that is now undoubtedly coming, but that's unlikely because all the governments will sign up to unachievable targets and congratulate themselves on how well they are doing.

No doubt while the common folk like us carry on making fun of people who are actually committed to doing things that make a difference. And the RF tell us how Green they are and how we should be just like them.

Alegrias you are quite right. It will fail. No matter how many placeholders are flown in and accommodated at enormous expense. I note that the Japanese plane flew in empty recently just to check the airport then flew back to Japan. Global warming!?
COVs 1-25 haven't worked...

Sensible woman working from home

If China and Russia aren't coming I struggle to see the point of this huge jamboree.

There are 200 Russians and a large Chinese delegation led by Xie Zhenhua.

If (when) the conference fails it won't be down to the lack of figureheads turning up to bump elbows and drink cocktails with their counterparts.

I think Charles and William are going. They can represent the Queen. I hope Carrie isn’t going with Boris Johnson. She’s well on in her pregnancy and Covid is particularly bad for pregnant women. I realise she’ll have been vaccinated but probably not the booster. Carrie and Wilfred should stay at home as well as the Queen.

I agree Maddyone I wonder what the point is as the main polluters are not bothering to attend. If China and Russia aren't coming I struggle to see the point of this huge jamboree.
Quite right that The Queen should stay at home. I expect other Royals might turn up adding to the extra carbon footprint of it all. Is Greta cycling here or coming by hot air balloon?

She would be much more likely to get Covid if she went up there. No one would expect any other 95 year old should be up there mixing with all those people. It’s going to be another Covid mixing pot, just like the one in Cornwall in the summer. I feel sorry for the Scots having to put up with this pantomime in the middle of a pandemic.

Putin isn’t attending, China isn’t attending so why should the Queen at her age, especially when she wouldn’t be playing an active role. I’m over 20 years younger but don’t think I’d fancy going all the way up there, nor doing all the other things she has kept on doing. She is bound to feel more tired and has done remarkably well up till now. I feel tired just thinking about it! Although with her sense of duty and work ethic she shouldn’t/couldn’t stop doing things completely.

^ why do we need all this speculation about what’s wrong with her or what she’s thinking/ feeling?^
because sometimes it's just fun thinking what would I do in her shoes, just like dozens of GNs on here empathise daily with other GNs' predicaments without really knowing them.

If my 95 year old Mother was galivanting all over the country/world meeting loads of people, I'd be quite worried about her catching covid in the current climate.

Lots of perfectly young and healthy people are working from home and only attending by meetings via zoom etc

What would dragging her up to Glasgow just to shake hands with a few people achieve? Johnson has already said this conference will fail. “Old woman unwell / uses walking stick/ sees doctors ” is not really news, it would be a surprise if she didn’t have a few health problems. We won’t be given any details of her health unless she’s really on her last legs, so why do we need all this speculation about what’s wrong with her or what she’s thinking/ feeling?

I know she is 95, but I have a feeling she is not keen at all on attending at all, and be seen with Johnson. And I can't blame her at all.

The Queen is going to record a message to be used at the summit. It seems sensible. If she’s unwilling to hand over to Charles completely, she could easily do much more of this, letting Charles and William do the royal duties, and she just does a message or a zoom meeting sometimes.

The Queen mother was 52 when she was no longer Queen consort ,

Sensible, she was going to an evening reception to welcome not
to be part of the talks

Ladyleftfieldlover

I don’t think she’s ill. She’s old. Can anyone remember what her mother was up to at a similar age?

The Queen Mother was born in 1900. She attended Diana’s funeral in 1997, still looking reasonably spry at 97.

She looked to be doing well at her 100th celebrations, I can remember she stood for quite a while despite Prince Charles, who was in attendance, encouraging her to sit down.