Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip health speculation rife as entire household staff called to ‘emergency meeting’

Queen Elizabeth II has called her entire royal staff to a “highly unusual” emergency meeting, fuelling the public to speculate widely on her and Prince Philip’s health. The monarch summoned all her personnel from across the UK in the Buckingham Palace the early hours of Thursday.

All staff members from royal residences across the United Kingdom – including the Balmoral in Scotland and the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk – have been summoned to London to attend a meeting by the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household, and the Majesty’s right-hand man, Private Secretary Sir Christopher Geidt, the Daily Mail reports. It’s unclear to everyone, including the longest serving staff, why the emergency meeting would be taking place, with some sources calling it a “highly unusual” event.

“Everyone is on tenterhooks,” one source told the publication. “Although meetings involving the entire royal household are occasionally called, the way this has been done at the eleventh hour is highly unusual and suggests that there is something major to be disseminated.”

With only the closest to the Queen privy to the details of the meeting, speculation is rife that the Queen or his husband’s health is the issue. The Queen is 91 years old, while the Duke of Edinburgh will be 96 in June. Last year, the monarch announced that she would be stepping down as patron of about 25 organisations and would leave the duties to the younger members of the royal family. The duke has also cut down his commitments since turning 90.

Both have been reported to suffer minor health issues over the past months, but they bounced back and appeared normally healthy as before. Some sources said that it would be wrong to speculate on what the meeting could be about because it’s not unusual for the Lord Chamberlain to call all household staff from time to time.

“You could safely assume the Queen and Prince Philip are not dead,” the palace press office told a 1 News reporter in Auckland by phone. Nevertheless, the press are waiting for announcement from outside the Buckingham Palace.