Prince Edward was forced to pull out of a major royal event in London today due to being sick. The Duke of Edinburgh was expected to attend a ceremony at St James’s Palace alongside his brother, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Charles presented the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education to 19 universities and colleges in recognition of their outstanding work. But Edward was nowhere to be seen during the grand affair, and now we know why.
It is understood that the Duke has been pacing himself after coming down with a cold and has opted to skip the event today.
Edward was last seen in public two weeks ago when he travelled to Italy to attend events during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Today’s ceremony celebrated the 19 winners for their innovation and excellence across a range of subject areas.
This included a centre tackling sustainability in the textile industry, to a partnership providing higher education in prisons, and groundbreaking research into Paralympic performance.
The Princess Royal attended the event in her capacity as Chancellor of The University of Edinburgh, which received an award for research and education by its Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.
Following the award presentations, the royals hosted a reception with the recipients and heard about their work.
The winners for the sixteenth round of Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education (2024-2026) were: The University of Edinburgh, Gateshead College, Hull College, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, Lancaster University and the University of Leeds.
Also receiving an award were Leeds Beckett University, Liverpool John Moores University, London Metropolitan University, Loughborough University, Newcastle University, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, North West Regional College, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, Royal College of Music, University of Salford, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the University of Southampton.