Queen Mother cancels WI visit

The Queen Mother's faltering health was today the subject of new concern as it emerged she was still confined to her room after failing to shake off a bug she caught before Christmas.

The 101-year-old great-grandmother, who has not been seen in public for more than two months, was forced to cancel a Women' s Institute engagement last night, despite it being moved from the village hall to Sandringham House.

It was the latest in a number of cancellations by the Queen Mother, whose last public engagement was the recommissioning of aircraft carrier Ark Royal at Portsmouth.

A royal source said: "There is no alarm but there are anxieties," although a Palace spokeswoman insisted she was recovering from a "ticklish cough and cold".

Members of the Sandringham Women's Institute had been expecting to celebrate the Queen Mother's 65 years as branch president, and moved the meeting to her home for the first time in 83 years. Vice-president Yvonne Brown said she had been expected to meet 28 WI members with the Queen in the ballroom.

She said: "We were told the Queen Mother has had a bad cold and is confined to her room. She was not feeling strong enough to come. She was disappointed but the Queen came to the meeting and she was asked by the Queen Mother to convey her greetings to us."