come, suggesting that it is about to come, but we are, let's be candid about it, we have seen the facts as they have emerged today, we have seen the family gathering, they haven't rushed to balmoral without good reason. one must suppose that, whatever it is that they have been briefed about, buckingham palace will feel the need to share that with the rest of the nation and, indeed, the commonwealth at some point this evening. fine indeed, the commonwealth at some point this evening.— point this evening. one imagines because, point this evening. one imagines because. as _ point this evening. one imagines because. as you _ point this evening. one imagines because, as you said _ point this evening. one imagines because, as you said earlier, - point this evening. one imagines because, as you said earlier, it i point this evening. one imagines i because, as you said earlier, it is the royal family and we are dealing with her majesty the queen, but it is family. it is a mother and a grandmother, and a great—grandmother. whose health we are talking about. i imagine that they have gathered with her to offer

comfort. since the duke of edinburgh's death. rather less than that. so this is a family which has suffered one death quite recently, and which is now having to deal with the illness and the declining health, as we understand it at the moment, of, as you say, their mother or their grandmother. it is perfectly possible that she will recover from this, or perhaps not recover, but

that she will get over whatever issueit that she will get over whatever issue it is that has because the doctors to speak on the way that they have, so we must again stress that we don't know what the true situation is. we are merely anticipating and expecting that the palace will feel it necessary to say something. but as you say, at the heart of this is a family which is providing comfort to the queen, and one must hope that that is the situation that is taking place

within balmoral castle at the moment. nick, thank you. the time is 6:01pm. if you arejoining us here on bbc news, we are reporting the latest on the state of the queen's health, because her majesty is under medical supervision at balmoral castle after doctors became concerned for her health. a statement from palace, released earlier this afternoon, said that the queen, who is 96, was placed under supervision after further evaluation, they said, but they then went on to say she remains comfortable. queen's children are now at the royal estate in aberdeenshire. four senior royals arrived at balmoral in the past hour, a land rover being driven by the duke of alongside prince andrew, the duke of york, and then the earl and countess of 16, also with them. we are told that prince harry is also on his way, but he was not this party and is not travelling either with his duchess of sussex. she is not travelling to balmoral. as you can imagine, there have been lots of reactions and expressions of alarm during the day. the prime minister liz truss said the whole country would be deeply concerned by the news, and she has said that her thoughts and those of everyone in the uk were currently with her majesty and members of the royal family. let usjust majesty and members of the royal family. let us just remind ourselves, just two days ago, the new prime minister liz truss was officially asked by the queen to form a government. liz truss became the 15th prime minister of the queen's reign when she visited the

queen's reign when she visited the queen there at balmoral. so that is the summary of where we stand right now at three minutes past six, and our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is with me, and nick and i are keeping a close eye on all the developments, watching the comings and goings there at balmoral too. what would you say to viewers at this point, nick? i you say to viewers at this point, nick? ., _ ., ~ ., . nick? i would say that i think once auain, nick? i would say that i think once again. in the _ nick? i would say that i think once again, in the absence _ nick? i would say that i think once again, in the absence of _ nick? i would say that i think once again, in the absence of any - nick? i would say that i think once again, in the absence of any hard l again, in the absence of any hard facts, that the images i think are now starting to tell the story. i was looking closely at that picture that we just showed of the wessexes in the back of that vehicle. it is the first time we have seen edward, or sophie, the countess of wessex. i thought they looked particularly sombre. i think in particular, she looks very sombre. i think every individual must look at that photograph and draw their own conclusions. i am photograph and draw their own conclusions. iam not photograph and draw their own conclusions. i am not going to assist anybody in attempting to draw

any conclusion, but i think she looks, yes, sombre. let's leave it at that. they are arriving there at the gates of balmoral castle after dashing up from london, from their home, having presumably been summoned at some point this morning and briefed about whatever it is that has occurred at balmoral castle, and the family has come together, and they have gone on an raf plane and flown straight to aberdeen and then straight out to balmoral. this, against the background of the queen's doctors having become concerned about her health, so that is the situation. we have heard the statements from senior politicians, who will have been briefed on privy council terms. current and previous prime ministers will know what the situation is, and i think will know what the situation is, and ithink again, will know what the situation is, and i think again, wejust read into their statement is a general sense of profound concern. that statement, nick, of course, came from buckingham palace, and

these are the images of the palace, where there have been some crowds gathering during the course of the afternoon, because, of course, the news has been getting around and people have been at the railings there, just waiting to see if there is any announcement, waiting to see if there is any news of the queen's health, and some of those, of course, will be visitors to london. others will be people who live in london or indeed are visiting london from other parts of the uk and beyond. how unusual, nick, was the statement that was released by buckingham palace earlier today? extremely. they have made a point of not saying anything. as we have been discussing this afternoon, they insist that the queen is entitled to patient confidentiality. they will not engage in a commentary about her health, so after telling us back in october, on october 20, that she was cancelling that visit to northern ireland and she had been advised by

her doctors to rest, their statements have been few and far between. we have had briefings, if one can call them that, that the episodic mobility issues have from time to time reared their head and have prevented her from time to time reared their head and have prevented herfrom attending some of these major state events, the state opening of parliament and so on and so forth, but they have not gone beyond that. they have not addressed the suspicion, and it has been a pretty wide —— widespread suspicion, that there is some underlying condition. so for them to come out and say last night that she was unable to chair the virtual privy council meeting, that it was necessary, and she was tired after the events with the incoming prime minister, that she was needing to rest last night, and then this morning to hear the statement from buckingham palace, well, yes, i think we can all quite reasonably

and justifiably say that something has happened that is giving rise to all of this concern. with that, let's go to downing street and talk to our political editor chris mason. chris, we have already seen the image of the queen smiling just two days ago, looking frail, but smiling as she greeted liz truss, the new prime minister. what is going on in downing street today? the prime minister working there, and obviously being fully informed about events at balmoral? that's right, so, liz truss is working from downing street this evening. there are no plans for her to travel to scotland, to balmoral, as we have reported in the last few hours, several members of the wider royalfamily have been making hours, several members of the wider royal family have been making the journey. as you say, it was just a couple of days ago that liz truss was there, and was greeted by the queen, had that audience with the queen, had that audience with the queen, in which she was invited to form a government and to become prime minister. just a matter of

minutes before the queen had had a final audience with borisjohnson as prime minister, in which he tendered his resignation, and it was that reminder of the key role that the queen plays, right at the heart of the british political system. detached from democracy and yet somehow overseeing it, and performing these central roles of state, when governments come and governments go, and that announcement last night that she wasn't able to take part in that virtual meeting of the privy council, that's a gathering of senior ministers who meet in her presence regularly, an indication of herfrailty, and in the last presence regularly, an indication of her frailty, and in the last few months, there have been those signs, haven't they are, of her increasing age. so, for instance, the audiences that prime ministers have with the queen and hugely cherish, when you read the memoirs of prime minister's. they hugely cherished that opportunity they have, that this great opportunity for a chat in

private with the queen, waited and freighted as she is with all the experience she has, meeting heads of state and government over a decade after decade after decade. traditionally, and for many years, they would happen in person at buckingham palace, but in recent years, not least because of the pandemic, but continuing after that as well, those audiences happening remotely, again, to account for those episodic mobility problems, as reported by the palace in recent months and years, and an acknowledgement of her increasing frailty and age. and even in the last 24—48 hours, a reminder here at westminster of the role of the queen in the formation of a government. notjust in the formation of a government. not just that in the formation of a government. notjust that moment in the formation of a government. not just that moment we in the formation of a government. notjust that moment we so widely the boards of the other day, with liz truss becoming prime minister, but also the appointment of ministers. —— we so widely reported the other day. when ministers are appointed, they are formally done so by the queen as ministers of the

crown. so reflecting that profound concern that exists around the country and in many places around the world about the queen's health this evening, so conscious as they are of that bond that exists constitutionally between government and the royal household, personified for so long by the queen. indeed, and it is one of those moments, let's hope we hear good news from balmoral, but it is one of those moments where people do reflect on the kind of constitutional arrangement that exists, and which the queen has made work. she has really helped to oil the wheels of that constitutional arrangement, which lots of constitutional experts say is not a normal arrangement, constitutional experts say is not a normalarrangement, notan normal arrangement, not an arrangement normalarrangement, notan arrangement which on paper should be working. but of course, this notion of the crown in parliament as the constitutional monarchy is framed,

is one that today we reflect on because, of course, there is this axis, the axis of importance and continuity which stretches from the palace to parliament, and to the executive itself. yes, and we see this, don't we, when there are those moments, the state opening of parliament, colloquially described as the queen's speech, where the queen comes along, and she was not able to attend if few months ago, but comes along to parliament and sits there delivering out loud the government's words, saying what the government's words, saying what the government is planning to do in its legislative programme in the months ahead. and there was a particular moment in that ceremony, you may recall this, when the door is slammed in the face of an official court black rod, acknowledging the independence of the democratic house of commons and that constitutional arrangement, where the queen, the head of state, sits at the top of

it, parliament below it. a point about the head of state, and a striking one as well. i travelled recently to the g7 summit in bavaria and then on the nato defence alliance summit in madrid, and part of the formulation of the language of the formulation of the language of those events is that they are gatherings of heads of state and government, and that matters, because of course, in the uk system, we have a head of government in liz truss, the prime minister, and we have a head of state in her majesty, the queen, and that distinction between the two, is so pivotal to how the uk system operates. chris, thank you again. chris mason, our political editor, with the latest for us in downing street. from downing street, let's go to windsor, because windsor, of course, dominated by the great castle, and windsor, i think it's fair to say, as our understanding goes, is the queen's favourite residence, though she loves balmoral as well. but at

windsor, our correspondent elaine wilkinson has been there today, and it looks better slightly weather—wise than it was earlier. what is your sense there of the way that the local community and windsor, which has such a close bond with the royal family because of the proximity there, what is your sense of what people are saying in windsor itself? yes, absolutely, and for those who don't know, windsor castle is right in the centre of windsor, and just down the road is the high street, full of shops, and local people, residents, in windsor, very much view the queen is one of their neighbours, as a local resident. in previous years, she was often seen in the great park around here. we have spoken to a number of people here on the high street, some emotional at the news of the queen's health, and of course, many people just anxious to hear how she is. we

haven't had another update from the palace since the one we got atjust after half past 12 this afternoon. lots of visitors coming out of the castle gates here, and some of them told us that they had heard the news from inside the grounds. others are emerging not having heard. we know, of course, that the queen spent much of course, that the queen spent much of the last two and a half years here at the castle, as you mentioned. this is perhaps her most favourite royal residence. there is a lot of green space around here, and it is somewhere where she loves to be, and she spent the last years of her husband's life, the duke of edinburgh, and during lockdown, they remained here together, spending day after day together. they celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in november 2020. their 73rd wedding anniversary in november2020. of their 73rd wedding anniversary in november 2020. of course, she made that trip, which is traditional for the queen, to spend the summer months at balmoral. she left here,

windsor castle, injuly, and the queen would traditionally return here to the castle in october. but the sense this evening here, the feeling amongst locals and also visitors here, tourists, there are some who have gathered just a bit down from where we are, is one of concern, deep concern about the queen. wanting to know how she is, and anxiety, so i think everyone really is waiting for another statement from the palace to find out exactly how her majesty is. we await to see if that statement comes. thank you very much. and of course windsor is where the queen spent so much of the lockdown period, much of that with the late prince philip, duke of edinburgh. but injuly this year, the queen decided she really did want to

maintain the tradition of spending lots of the summer at balmoral in aberdeenshire, in the glorious countryside there. and of course balmoral castle is one of the favourite homes of the queen, where she has spent so many happy times during her long life, back to her childhood, and it brings back lots of memories of happy times with her parents and sister margaret, and of course with her family when they were young and then growing up with prince philip as well as they enjoyed the countryside and the picnics and barbecues around balmoral. so it's a place of great happiness for the queen and that's the reason she decided she really did, despite her mobility problems and health issues, she wanted to leave windsor injuly and go to balmoral as usual. she is a stickler for tradition. balmoral as usual. she is a stickler fortradition. so balmoral as usual. she is a stickler for tradition. so buckingham palace and there on the right very much

seen as the office, if you like. that is where the working quarters are. windsor, not too far away to the west, is really the kind of favourite home, the main home, where lots of work is also done. then of course we have the other residences, balmoral which we are familiar with in summer, and then of course at sandringham in the east of england. and there are a few others too. of course there is holyrood house in edinburgh. so we are looking today at news from balmoral, that is our focus today. it is not buckingham palace really, it is balmoral and thatis palace really, it is balmoral and that is where the queen is being kept comfortable by the team of doctors there, and who have just put that unusual statement out earlier today. unusual because it was rather forthcoming, saying they were concerned, they were now concerned about the state of the queen's

health and that she was comfortable at balmoral but some of the family now who have arrived to see their mother in the case of prince charles and princess and and andrew and edward, and then of course her grandson in the form of the duke of cambridge. they are all there and we imagine they have been talking to the doctor's there and have had their briefing, and one imagines that they are with the queen, keeping her company and making sure she is as comfortable as possible. at balmoral is my colleaguejames cork, the bbc scotland editor. —— james cook. could you bring is up—to—date with what has been going on there? h0 up-to-date with what has been going on there? ., , , ., ., ., ., on there? no sense of drama or anic, on there? no sense of drama or panic. just _ on there? no sense of drama or panic. just a _ on there? no sense of drama or panic, just a well _ on there? no sense of drama or panic, just a well rehearsed - on there? no sense of drama or| panic, just a well rehearsed plan swinging into action. for most of

the afternoon, it was relatively calm here. the rain teamed down leaving the purple heather around this estate sodden. every few minutes or so, another photographer, another reporter would cross the bridge and make their way here to the gates of balmoral. and then at 5.05 a flurry of flashbulbs as senior members of the royal family swept past, prince william driving a range rover, prince andrew next to him, and in the back prince edward and sophie the countess of wessex. i could see grim faces, certainly i saw andrew clearly grim faced as they drove past and into this estate, which of course is one of the favourite places if not the favourite place for the queen for many decades of her reign. the

50,000 acre estate dating back in terms of its association with the royal family to queen victoria, the castle built for her in the 18505 and a ca5tle built for her in the 18505 and a place where we know the queen has many fond memories of spending time with her late husband, the duke of edinburgh, not least because the photograph that was released by the family on his death was a photograph of the two of them together on the hills in this estate.— hills in this estate. james, 'ust a thou~ht hills in this estate. james, 'ust a thought about i hills in this estate. james, 'ust a thought about the i hills in this estate. james, 'ust a thought about the queen'sh thought about the queen's relationship with scotland as well because we are at a time when there has been a lot of debate about the future shape of the united kingdom. the queen of course represents the solid element of continuity and that is an interesting thing for us to reflect on, given her great affection for balmoral and indeed for scotland. affection for balmoral and indeed

for scotland-— for scotland. yes. this is surely a monarch who _ for scotland. yes. this is surely a monarch who personifies - for scotland. yes. this is surely a monarch who personifies the - for scotland. yes. this is surely a l monarch who personifies the union for scotland. yes. this is surely a - monarch who personifies the union of monarch who per5onifie5 the union of the crowns of 1603 as much as she does anything else. the constancy that we talk about that applies to her reign actually goe5 that we talk about that applies to her reign actually goes way back before her reign in terms of the royal family's relationship with scotland predating the act of union, the union of the parliament in 1707. indeed the queen has been a constant figure a55ociated indeed the queen has been a constant figure associated with that union of the crowns. not, it has to be said, always without controversy. in the silverjubilee speech which the queen gave in 1977 at westminster when she talked about the benefits union had conferred at a time when the labour party was proposing to devolve power to wales and scotland, proposals that were ultimately defeated. that certainly raised eyebrows. eyebrows were raised in

2014 when the queen attending cathy kirk along from the gates of balmoral talked about people thinking very carefully about the future as they decided how to vote in the referendum on independence which the people of scotland ultimately rejected. the palace of course strongly denied there was anything wrong with that comment and it was a perfectly sensible thing to say to urge people to think carefully about such a serious issue. and of course there is deep affection for the queen in parts of scotland. it is fair to say that if you look at the polling, the monarchy is not as popular north of the border as it is south of the border, but the queen is certainly more popular than the monarchy in scotland. and that is certainly reciprocated on her behalf. she is talked of her deep and abiding affection for this nation. find i

affection for this nation. and i thou . ht affection for this nation. and i thought as — affection for this nation. and i thought as well _ affection for this nation. and i thought as well about - affection for this nation. and i thought as well about the - affection for this nation. and i l thought as well about the place affection for this nation. and i thought as well about the place that balmoral plays in the great royal landscape, if you like. you mentioned the fact and we mentioned earlier the fact the queen has a great affection for it and its heritage goes back to queen victoria's time. we are talking about aberdeenshire which is of course lots of it very beautiful. the landscape there is magnificent, and as you say, very significant that that rather lovely image of the queen and the duke released when the duke died was indeed in the hills above balmoral on this enormous estate that the queen has there. yes, that's right, and the queen has been coming here regularly with her family for the summer and into their early autumn year after year after year. it's very clear this place is somewhere for which she holds extremely deep affection. we just

see another police car going through the gates of balmoral estate. yes, huw, you are right, there is definitely an affinity. if you look back through the newsreel footage back through the newsreel footage back through the years, here she was in the 19605, buying an ice cream for one of the young princes along the road in one of the local shops. one of the few places really where... i'm not saying the queen routinely walks up and down the streets, but it would be a place where she would not be troubled by people locally if she were to do so because people are very used to seeing senior members of the royal family. indeed i remember one occasion someone telling me that just outside of these gates, they were driving along and there was a car waiting with its indicator on waiting to turn into the gates, and

as it went past they realised it was none other than queen elizabeth at the wheel. , ., . none other than queen elizabeth at the wheel. , . , ., ~ , ., , the wheel. james, thank you very much. the wheel. james, thank you very much- james _ the wheel. james, thank you very much. james cook _ the wheel. james, thank you very much. james cook with _ the wheel. james, thank you very much. james cook with some - the wheel. james, thank you very| much. james cook with some nice memories of the queen and life in balmoral. but today we are reflecting on the state of the queen's health sadly, and we are just waiting to see whether buckingham palace or the officials at balmoral make another statement, having said at lunchtime that the queen's doctors are very concerned about the state of the queen's health, that she is comfortable, that they had no more to say at that point but they felt it necessary to convey the fear and anxiety that was being felt. and that is why of course we have seen the duke of cambridge, the duke of york, the earl and countess of wessex and some others making their way to balmoral. they have arrived there. the prince of wales already there and the

duchess of cornwall too, the princess royal is there, so the family is gathered and we are told the duke of sussex, harry, is on his way but he wasn't with the party that arrived a short while ago. watching the images with me, nicholas witchell, our royal correspondent. james was underlying the special place that balmoral holds because really some people may be wondering why the queen in september is in balmoral. why is she not back in windsor or even buckingham palace? but it's important to underline that is normal, that is what she does. find normal, that is what she does. and of course she _ normal, that is what she does. and of course she loves _ normal, that is what she does. fific of course she loves to have normal, that is what she does. 2.1c of course she loves to have the routine, to have the sense of confidence that you get from an unchanging routine. and so much of her year never changes. so yes, i think the annual trip up to balmoral is really very important to her. it is really very important to her. it

is somewhere where she feels very comfortable, very much at ease, somewhere that she has known all her life. so the time is approaching 6.30 now, isn't it? iwas life. so the time is approaching 6.30 now, isn't it? i was struck by what james cook was saying about the grim faces that he noticed on the faces of the members of the royal family as they drove into balmoral castle a short time ago. we are still waiting to see if there is something from buckingham palace. there is nothing to report on that front at the moment, but of course that could change at a moment's notice. the situation as we understand it at the moment continues to be that there is widespread and deep concern about the health of the queen, following the health of the queen, following the statement by her doctors this morning. clearly there has been some episode which has occurred overnight

which has given rise to that concern, and which prompted the doctors and buckingham palace to put out a statement indicating that there is concern about the queen's health. members of herfamily there is concern about the queen's health. members of her family have broken off and travelled to scotland. prince charles and the duchess of cornwall were already there. they have travelled across to balmoral castle, where they have also beenjoined by the princess royal and other members of the royal family, four members of the royal family, four members of the royal family have travelled up from london on an raf flight. the duke of cambridge, the duke of york and the earl and countess of wessex. there is exoeetation _ earl and countess of wessex. there is expectation now _ earl and countess of wessex. there is expectation now clearly, - earl and countess of wessex. there is expectation now clearly, if - earl and countess of wessex. there is expectation now clearly, if we - is expectation now clearly, if we look at the images at buckingham palace, and the area in front of it dominated of course by the queen victoria memorial at this end of the mall, but crowds now starting to

gather at those gates where announcements in the past have been made of course about all kinds of things and events in the royal family's life. but i think today reflects a proud which is starting to gather, basically expressing concern and just hoping best. yes, i think that is the fairest way _ best. yes, i think that is the fairest way we _ best. yes, i think that is the fairest way we can _ best. yes, i think that is the fairest way we can put - best. yes, i think that is the fairest way we can put it, i best. yes, i think that is the i fairest way we can put it, huw. millions of people here and elsewhere will be hoping for the best but they will be i think now fearing the worst and perhaps preparing for the worst, but we must continue to hope that whatever news we get from buckingham palace will indicate that things are ok at balmoral. but i think that is as much as we can say at this stage. there is great concern. that concern has been expressed by politicians at the most senior level, and they will know what the true situation is. they will have been briefed and they will have briefed each other on

privy council terms, so