Queen scraps holiday plans over summit protests

Queen Elizabeth II has scrapped her annual July holiday plans in Scotland because of the G8 protest marches, Buckingham Palace said.

She has decided to cancel her week’s holiday at Holyroodhouse because of two big MakePovertyHistory marches in Edinburgh, which are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people.

Her Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace has been postponed until July 28.

Police said they were confident they could ensure her safety during the summit protests, but a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman confirmed the Queen had abandoned her holiday plans.

She said: “The Queen normally spends a summer week in Scotland at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

“After discussions with the office of the First Minister, a decision was taken that the Queen will not spend a week at Holyroodhouse this summer because of the G8 summit.”

The spokeswoman refused to reveal when the Queen would be spending time in Scotland but said: “She will still be holidaying in Scotland, but her usual week – around the beginning of July – will be split and she will take it in parts instead.

“The decision was taken for obvious reasons.

“It would have caused problems if there were thousands of people in Edinburgh because of the G8 and lots of people coming to the garden party at Holyroodhouse.”

She said the Queen would carry out several other engagements in Scotland over the summer, but the details have yet to be finalised.

The Queen could still be present at the Geneagles summit, but she said that would be decided by the British government.

The garden party has been put back until July 28 when the Queen heads for her holiday at Balmoral.

Her change of plans comes on top of protests that Edinburgh would be unable to cope with the influx of demonstrators.

Bob Geldof called for one million protesters to descend on the city to campaign against world poverty to coincide with the G8 summit.

However, the UK's Chancellor Gordon Brown said he would back the Live 8 organiser’s call as long as it was peaceful.

Geldof refused to comment on the Queen’s change of plans.

But he appealed to the public not to let him down in his fight to help poverty-stricken Africa.

The singer, who was speaking at the Hay Festival yesterday received a standing ovation after telling the audience: “If we can get the domestic heat to such a temperature, just possibly we can reach down that ladder and say, ’Come on dudes, I’ll give you a hand up.'”

The Live Aid founder sparked controversy by calling for massive demonstrations to coincide with the G8 summit of world leaders at Gleneagles next month.

He added: “I’m going to do it. I need you to be with me.”

Geldof told the audience: “Numbers make things political.” He said men like Martin Luther King had changed history with one million people and said he was not talking in metaphor.

Geldof, who admitted: “I bore myself to death,” said he would not accept any more people dying on his television screens every night.

Police chiefs have voiced concerns over the march, but it has received backing from Chancellor Gordon Brown, who said he would support it as long as it was peaceful.

Geldof talked about how the British prime minister had watched the original Live Aid concert 20 years ago.

He joked: “The fact that he was a crap guitar player, I thought I could almost shame him into doing something.”

Geldof described the original event as “beautiful” and said it had resonated down the ages.

“It wasn’t enough this time just to do a concert,” he said.

“There had to be some political and intellectual bones behind it.”

Asked about a lack of African artists taking part in the Live 8 concerts which will take place around the globe, Geldof said it was not a cultural event but a political one.

“If I have a band that sells 15 million albums I am guaranteed 15 million people minimum watching,” he said.

“We need to create domestic heat in each of the countries that are having the concert.”

He added: “I would love it if the Africans themselves organised concerts.”

He later told the audience that Africans do not listen to traditional musicians but act like Eminem and 50 Cent.

“It’s not a cultural event, it’s political,” he said

Geldof said Africa was the “greatest political problem at the beginning of our century”.

He added: “It is in our common interest that we sort this out. We need a healthy Africa as a mutual trading partner.”

He said people needed to accept that what might work for Africa “is not what we might take as normal”. In contrast, Geldof said people did not insist on a particular point of view when it came to China or India.

Geldof asked the audience: “Is it absurd that in a world of surplus people die of want?”

Speaking at the tiny market town in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Geldof had earlier joked: “I like coming here, it’s the only place on the planet where I sell out.”