Queen set to attend Gladiator II premiere after falling ill with chest infection
The Queen is expected to attend the global film premiere of Gladiator II next week, after falling ill with a chest infection.
Buckingham Palace announced that the King and Queen will meet actors Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal as well as director Sir Ridley Scott.
The royal couple will watch the screening of the Gladiator sequel at the Royal Film Performance in London’s Leicester Square next Wednesday evening.
The Queen, 77, was this week compelled to pull out of engagements after catching a seasonal illness.
She is hoping to return to duty this weekend for Remembrance events, with the royal diary being filled for next week in expectation of her recovery.
On Wednesday, the King and Queen will host a daytime reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the UK’s television and film industry, welcoming guests including directors, actors, presenters, stunt performers and costume designers.
The premiere will be held the evening before the King’s 76th birthday, which falls on Thursday, Nov 14. The day’s events mark the centenary of the Film and TV Charity, of which he is patron.
The palace will house a display of costumes and props from films including Titanic and Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, as well as the late Maggie Smith’s costume from the 1982 film Evil Under The Sun.
The Queen’s newly announced engagements for next week also include a Booker Prize reception at Clarence House on Tuesday.
The Queen, who is resting at her Wiltshire home Ray Mill, is hoping to be able to go to the annual Festival of Remembrance on Saturday evening at the Royal Albert Hall, and the national Remembrance service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Sunday.
Gladiator II is set decades after the plot of the original Gladiator, released in 2000, which starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius.
The new film is said to continue “the epic saga of power, intrigue and vengeance set in ancient Rome”.
