The Queen will have a minor operation on her left knee

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

The Queen will undergo an operation on Friday, 12 December at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, to remove a torn cartilage in her left knee. This operation follows a similar one on Her Majesty's right knee on 13 January this year.

The Queen is expected to leave hospital some time during the weekend, and she should be fully active again within a few weeks. The Queen will spend Christmas with her family at Sandringham as usual.

The operation was a planned one. Following the surgery on The Queen's other knee earlier this year, doctors decided that surgery was also required on her left knee.

The decision on the timing of the operation was made to minimise the impact on The Queen's commitments, and to enable her to continue her recovery at Sandringham over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Queen will hold tomorrow's Investiture at the Palace, as scheduled. However, as a consequence of this operation, The Queen's attendance at two public engagements has been cancelled and her hosts have been informed - a Carol Concert hosted by the WRVS on Thursday in London, and the rededication ceremony of HMS INVINCIBLE on Friday in Portsmouth.

Although The Queen will not be able to attend these engagements, the events will go ahead in her absence. In the case of the HMS INVINCIBLE ceremony, The Duke of York will attend the rededication.

The Queen's remaining official commitments next week (including receiving Credentials from two new Ambassadors) will be postponed or cancelled.