Queen Elizabeth II will not be attending a traditional highlight of her summer trip to Scotland due to ongoing health concerns, British media said on Friday.

The 96-year-old monarch has been plagued with walking and standing problems since last year, which has forced her to cancel a number of public engagements.

Fears of a flare-up of what royal officials describe as “episodic mobility problems” have prevented her from returning to London to appoint a new prime minister.

The Queen was due to attend the Braemar Gathering near her remote retreat at Balmoral in north-east Scotland this weekend.

To her consolation, a decision had been made about her withdrawal, British media reported, without citing sources.

The event, which always takes place on the first Saturday in September, is the most famous on the Highland Games circuit.

High-ranking royals, including the monarch, have regularly attended the games to see feats of strength and endurance since the mid-19th century.

Events include Tossing the Caber, where participants in kilts try to lift and throw a full-length Scots pine.

Attendees this year – the first since 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic – include the Queen’s eldest son and heir, Prince Charles.

She will meet Boris Johnson in Balmoral on Tuesday to accept his formal resignation as Prime Minister.

She will also ask his successor – either Foreign Minister Liz Truss or former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak – to form a new government.

Truss and Sunak vie to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. The winner is to be announced on Monday.