Queen to skip Lanka CHOGM

May 08, 2013 |

London

For the first time in 40 years, Queen Elizabeth II will skip the Commonwealth summit to be held in Sri Lanka in November, deciding to send her son Prince Charles instead for the biennial event.
Queen Elizabeth II, 87, will miss the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) for the first time since 1973, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday.
“I can confirm that the Queen will be represented by the Prince of Wales. The reason is that we are reviewing the amount of long-haul travel that is taken by the Queen. As a result of that, she won’t be travelling to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting later in 2013,” a spokesman said.
This year’s CHOGM has been mired in controversy, with campaigners, including Amnesty International, calling for not holding the summit until an investigation is carried out into alleged human rights abuses in the final six months of the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war.

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