At the recent Party at the Palace event to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, plans were put in place to convey the 96-year-old monarch in comfort to the Royal Box, according to the Daily Mail. The queen has been experiencing mobility problems in the months leading up to the Jubilee celebrations, and has pulled out of several public events.

Before the special concert, featuring stars such as Rod Stewart, Queen (the band), Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers, Craig David, and Diana Ross, a sharp-eyed visitor spotted a lift installation behind the scenes of the Royal Box.

Bowel Cancer UK fundraiser Dafydd Jones attended the event as a special guest. He tweeted a photograph of the lift to the Royal Box on The Mall, and speculated that it had been put in place to enable the Queen to access the raised platform.

Dafydd wrote on Twitter: “Behind the scenes here on The Mall, looks like a lift has been installed for Her Majesty's comfort to take her to the Royal Box.” The report was neither confirmed or denied by Buckingham Palace or the BBC, who were broadcasting the event.

Her Majesty made the decision not to attend the concert in person, and was represented by her son, Prince Charles, along with various other senior members of the Royal Family.

While not everyone with limited mobility is fortunate enough to have their own personal lift installed, there are regulations pertaining to wheelchair access in public places. They are part of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, and were updated to encompass the Equality Act 2010, which expanded the requirements for public disabled access.

All new-build public buildings must be fully wheelchair accessible, and all existing buildings are required to have reasonable adjustments made to accommodate wheelchair users. This may mean installing access ramps of regulation steepness, passenger lifts, or wheelchair platform lifts, automatic doors, and extra aids or services.