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Queen Elizabeth was recently spotted with an extra layer of security at a royal engagement: a walking stick.
The 95-year-old monarch attended a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey with her daughter, Princess Anne, where she was seen using the aid for support.
The monarch arrived in a limousine at the event which marked the centenary of the Royal British Legion. She was handed the walking stick by Anne as she stepped out of the car at the Poet’s Yard entrance instead of the customary Great West Door.
Although she appeared to be walking freely, it’s reported that the change of entrance was to accommodate the queen, and the stick was to help her negotiate the uneven and cobbled surfaces at the abbey.
A royal source further explained the stick was purely for
“comfort”.
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According to walking stick experts, the queen was using “more of a telescopic walking pole with trigger grip and wrist loop”. This is believed to be “more of an outdoors sports stick” rather than a traditional cane or walking stick.
“It has an unusual grip but appears to be a comfortable companion and the queen's go-to walking stick for occasions such as this,” explained Paul Simmonds, owner of London-based business Walking Sticks.
“Although the queen doesn't appear to rely on her walking
stick entirely, it may provide her with that all important sense of additional
support that a walking stick offers.”
It’s reported that this is the same cane she used two decades ago, then aged 76, after surgery to remove torn cartilage from her right knee.
Between 2003 and 2004 the queen was seen with the stick several times but since recovering from the op hasn’t required it despite suffering from knee pain in 2018.
Sources: Daily
Mail, CNN,
Guardian,
Independent
