Prince Edward pulls out of major event with King Charles as health update shared
Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, had been due to attend an engagement with his older brother, King Charles, at St James' Palace, but was forced to pull out of the appearance
Prince Edward was forced to pull out of an event with his older brother, King Charles, today despite originally being expected to attend. The Duke of Edinburgh had been due to join Charles, sister Princess Anne and sister-in-law Queen Camilla at St James' Palace as Charles presented the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education.
However, he was unable to attend with it understood he pulled out after coming down with a cold. His last engagements took him to Italy, where he attended several events at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, including the snowboarding competition on the slopes, where Team GB had several medal hopes.
Today's event at St James' Palace was the largest gathering of royals since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest last Thursday, with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester also attending the awards ceremony.
It saw 19 universities and colleges from across the UK recognised for their innovation and excellence across a range of subject areas. Among the winner was London Metropolitan University, which was rewarded for its world-leading research unit dedicated to ending violence against women and girls nationally and internationally – through interdisciplinary research, police intervention, criminal justice reform, and improved support of survivors.
At a reception after the ceremony, Camilla – who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse – met with members of the unit and shared a brief conversation with Professor Fiona Vera-Gray, co-director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU), and senior research fellow Jo Lovett.
Other winners included the London Institute of Cancer Research, which has led ground-breaking research in radiotherapy to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments, and the University of Edinburgh – of which Princess Anne was elected chancellor in 2011 – for its world-first Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.
The University of Oxford also featured among the winners for its OpenSAFELY data analysis platform, which uses new methods to access the entire English population's NHS GP records and enable life-saving research.
Mingling with around 200 guests at the awards reception, Charles, Camilla, and Anne appeared relaxed following a turbulent few days for the monarchy.
Elsewhere, Edward's wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh has been on international manoeuvres, completing a two-day trip to the African country of Somalia to mark International Women's Day.
There she visited the capital Mogadishu, where she promoted two topics close to her heart - the role of women in peacebuilding in former war zones and ensuring accountability for sexual and gender-based violence in conflict.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after being accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein while acting as a special representative for trade and investment between 2001 and 2011.
The former prince spent 11 hours in custody on his 66th birthday while officers searched his home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and his former Windsor home in Berkshire before he was released under investigation.