A Buckingham Palace source confirmed on Friday that Britain’s 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth will not be present at the Braemar Highland Gathering this weekend.

The source said that Prince Charles, the heir apparent, will be present as scheduled and that the decision was made with the welfare of the Queen in mind.

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According to its organisers, the current monarch and members of the royal family have attended the event in the town 60 miles west of Aberdeen on a regular basis since 1848. The event has been taking place there in some capacity for the past nine hundred years.

The queen will choose the next leader of the United Kingdom at her Scottish estate Balmoral Castle rather than at Buckingham Royal in London, according to a palace official earlier this week. This is because of mobility concerns.