The Privy Council is a body formed of senior politicians who act as the Queen’s official advisers. During the gathering on Wednesday, Truss would have taken her oath and new cabinet ministers would have been sworn into their roles.
“After a full day yesterday, Her Majesty has this afternoon accepted doctors’ advice to rest. This means that the Privy Council meeting that had been due to take place this evening will be rearranged,” a Palace spokesman said.
A royal source said the meeting was virtual and the Queen hasn’t been to the hospital.
The Queen remains at Balmoral Castle, her Scottish country residence, where she received Truss and her predecessor Boris Johnson on Tuesday — the first time a prime minister has officially tendered their resignation or been appointed outside of Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s seven decades on the throne.
Appointing a new prime minister is one of the Queen’s core ceremonial responsibilities as Head of State — with others being the State Opening of Parliament and the signing of parliamentary bills into law.
In May, the Queen missed the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. The palace cited the monarch’s “episodic mobility problems” but declined to divulge further details citing patient confidentiality.