Aching back forces queen to cancel honors ceremony

Queen Elizabeth II, who rarely gets sick and rarely cancels a public appearance, had to pull out of an honors ceremony today because of an aching back, British media are reporting..

The 86-year-old monarch was scheduled to present nearly 100 honors at Windsor Castle, a regular ceremony on her schedule in which she has to stand for long periods and bend over repeatedly to pin medals on citizens being honored for various good deeds.

The queen's back started bothering her over the weekend, her last of her annual holiday at Balmoral in Scotland. Doctors advised that the ceremony would be too demanding for her back pain so she reluctantly pulled out.

Prince Charles returned from Scotland to stand in for her at the ceremony, which is usually a much-anticipated event, especially for the ordinary citizens due to get a medal.

The queen is still in remarkably good shape for a woman of her years, and after 60 years on the throne she is still appearing for more than 300 engagements per year. But she does suffer from chronic back pain, the Daily Mail reported.

"In 2006, she was laid up for several weeks with chronic sciatica, where pressure is put on the sciatic nerve by the spine, causing crippling lower back pain and numbness of the legs," the paper said.

The monarch's health is of keen interest in the UK, much as the president's health is in the USA. After a year of appearances, as in June at her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and several recent health scares for her 91-year-old husband, Prince Philip, the queen may be ready to avoid the more physically demanding engagements in the future.