The Queen has told guests at the state visit that her chest infection was a form of pneumonia.

Camilla is suffering from post-viral fatigue and is missing the outdoor elements of the Qatari visit after being urged by her doctors to take more time to recover.

It is understood Camilla’s condition was viral, not bacterial, and she no longer has pneumonia.

The Queen missed the outdoor ceremonial welcome on a chilly Horse Guards Parade on Tuesday.

Instead, she arrived at Buckingham Palace shortly beforehand, giving a smile as she stepped from her car at the Grand Entrance.

Camilla, 77, waited for the Emir of Qatar and his wife inside, in the warm surroundings of the Grand Hall.

She contracted her illness after a long-haul trip to Australia and Samoa and has pulled out a series of engagements since then, including the Royal Variety Performance, the Gladiator II premiere and the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph.

It is understood the Queen was not taken to hospital with pneumonia, but is now facing bouts of extreme tiredness.

Her medical team has advised her to take each day as it comes.

She will join the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the emir for a group photo before the banquet later. But she will take a short break before dinner while guests are met in a receiving line.

Kate makes rare appearance for Qatari visit

The royal visitors were officially welcomed in Whitehall by King Charles before the emir inspected a guard of honour by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards on Horse Guards Parade.

The Prince and Princess of Wales had followed tradition and joined Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the first of his three wives, Sheikha Jawaher, on their journey from their private residence to Whitehall.

The royal women travelled in one chauffeur-driven limousine while the men travelled in another as they made their way to the parade ground where the waiting King greeted his guests warmly on a dais.

The princess looked relaxed as she stepped from a chauffeur-driven car with the prince, one of only a handful of official events Kate has carried out this year.

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It’s one of the princess’s few official appearances during a year in which she has undergone treatment for cancer.

Kate has been gradually returning to royal duties after saying in September her chemotherapy treatment had finished, but she won’t go to the state banquet hosted by the King, where William will be a guest.

Sheikh Tamim, 44, who was educated in Britain, has a busy schedule of engagements aimed at strengthening the ties between the UK and the Middle East nation, including meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Imagine being four years old. One minute your dad is reading you a bedtime story. The next he is lying on the doorstep of your family home, drawing his final breaths.

Blood is seeping from bullet wounds to his face and body, pooling in the hallway, while the innocent eyes of a young boy gaze from the nearby staircase, unable to comprehend he was witnessing an event that would change his life forever.

“I still get that image of my dad in nightmares”, Andrew Wilson, now aged 24, says as he relives the childhood horror he experienced, two decades on from the gangland-style attack that killed his father, Alistair.

Warning: Contains descriptions some readers may find distressing

Andrew is quiet as he shows me a picture of him and his bank manager dad, taken hours before the fatal evening of 28 November 2004.

The beaming smiles of father and son, captured on a grainy film camera, resemble old photos that usually gather dust in well-thumbed family photo albums. The picture was taken during a relaxed walk in the woods, and shows them both wearing blue outdoor jackets, holding hands. Andrew comes up to his dad’s hip and is leaning his head on his arm.

But this is all Andrew has left. It is the last image of his father alive.

The gunman vanished into the night

The contrast between the family fun on a Sunday afternoon with the brutal violence that would follow the same day is eerie.

The murder of Alistair Wilson is one of Britain’s longest-running unsolved cases.

Even the brightest and most seasoned detectives have been baffled by the fact a gunman carried out such a brutal execution in a sleepy Highland town before vanishing into the night, never to be caught.

No motive has ever been established, although in recent years police have zoned in on a planning dispute across the road.

The absence of his father is something Andrew has been forced to come to terms with.

“A lot of my friends’ dads were very good. My uncles all tried to have their influence on me but it wasn’t the same. I remember my grandad teaching me how to kick a football properly… that’s something my dad would have taught me”, he says.

Speaking with a Highland lilt in his voice, he ponders the small but significant moments he missed out on like sharing his “first legal pint” with his dad on his 18th birthday.

“I blanked out a lot of my childhood memories,” he says.

The knock at the door

It all began on Crescent Road, a long side street in Nairn. Victorian three-storey houses sit near a church, while a nearby beach looks out across the Moray Firth. Crime was rare – there hadn’t been a murder in Nairn for almost 20 years.

Alistair was upstairs with his two young boys, getting them ready for bed when there was a knock at the door. His wife, Veronica, answered a stranger who asked for her husband by name.

Nothing about that interaction seemed to raise suspicion or cause alarm, and Alistair left the boys to come downstairs.

The stranger handed him an empty blue envelope with the word “Paul” written on it, and he closed the door. But bewildered, Alistair opened it again to ask questions. He was instantly shot in a gangland-style attack.

Andrew talks about the family’s plans to visit his dad’s grave, to commemorate the anniversary of his murder.

“He would have been 50 this year,” he says. His tone of voice is matter-of-fact, but his gaze wanders off.

“The whole family got together and marked it.”

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A planning dispute

Speculation has run rife over the years in Nairn as to the motives behind the murder. Could it have been connected to Alistair’s career at the bank? Could a hitman have carried it out? Andrew says the worst part was when his mum was rumoured to be a suspect.

“It was difficult when people would say it was mum,” he says, emotion audible in his voice for the first time. Sounding protective, Andrew edges forward in his seat.

“I got in trouble at school for fighting because someone would say it was my mum,” he says. “I’d already lost a parent, and my other one was being made out to be something I knew they weren’t. That was my biggest struggle.”

Andrew is full of praise for how his mother dealt with being the focus of such hurtful gossip, while being both mother and father to her two sons. “She has done an amazing job,” he says.

In more recent years, police thought a possible motive could be linked to a planning objection Alastair had to a large decking area being built at the pub across the road from his house. His opposition was made public three days before he was killed.

Could a planning grievance really trigger such violence?

Police have stressed the then owner of the venue, who now lives in Canada, is a key witness and not a suspect.

‘Murkier and murkier’

Relations between Alistair Wilson’s family and Police Scotland were typically strong. There was no reason to question the strategy and the abilities of officers to do their jobs properly. When detectives told them, 18 months ago, that they were going to make an arrest, they were elated – finally it seemed justice might be done. But it wasn’t to be – the police went silent, and after chasing them for an answer, they found out the arrest had been cancelled.

From there it got “murkier and murkier”, Andrew says, with no explanation given. He and his family feel “let down” by the police, he says, and have no confidence they will ever catch the killer.

They are now calling for Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell, who was appointed in October 2023, to resign and take responsibility for her “callous” approach, after she refused to meet the family on multiple occasions.

“If her force has let us down for 20 years and she can’t get a hold of it, how are they going to get us somewhere?” Andrew asks. Police Scotland did not address questions from Sky News about the future of the chief constable.

Sky News confronted Jo Farrell as she arrived at a meeting in Glasgow on 1 December.

“I won’t be resigning, she said, when asked if she would quit over “failing to get a grip” on this.

“I am committed to us getting answers and finding the people responsible for the murder.”

She walked away when questioned further about her competence, or lack thereof, as the Wilson family see it.

Waiting for answers

The new senior detective reinvestigating the murder from scratch has said she is determined to find the answers to crack the case.

Detective Chief Superintendent Suzanne Chow, who has met the family face to face, admitted she is currently “not in a position” to arrest anyone and conceded the various inquiries over the years have been “protracted”.

DCS Chow defended her boss’ decision to cancel the arrest.

“The chief’s not being callous,” she said.

While this row between the family and police continues there are questions about whether Andrew and his family will ever find closure.

“All we can do is wait,” Andrew says. “We are a tick box to police. Ever since the arrest was pulled it is clear we are just a number to them.”

Photos from the Wilson family

Pyrotechnics, fireworks, balloons – Reform UK’s conference was unlike any other. Back in September, Nigel Farage’s party used its annual gathering to underscore its message that it offers something different. 

Throughout Birmingham’s NEC, screens flashed up images of the party’s leader. When it was time for Mr Farage’s speech, delegates flocked to hear him speak. As he ascended the stage, a lengthy video montage of his life, set to music, played behind him.

Among the packed crowd of almost 4,000 members, there was the usual crop of grey-haired supporters but sprinkled among them were a surprising number of young, white men.

Since Reform’s leader made a surprise return to frontline politics, he’s leant even harder into anti-establishment rhetoric. The political elite don’t want Nigel Farage to succeed, is his mantra.

The problem Reform UK faces is that it now has five MPs, giving it a presence on the green benches alongside the very establishment it rails against. It’s next job is to try to professionalise the party beyond the cult of Nigel and widen its supporter base.

Farage’s conference speech contained a serious message; it was time for Reform to “grow up” and think about its long-term plan. Looking around the room, it seemed the future of the party might already have arrived.

While most of its supporters are still older white men. According to YouGov’s post-election analysis, Reform was the third most popular party with men aged 50-64 – just one point shy of the Tories.

But there are signs of growing support among younger age groups, including young men aged 18-24, where Reform was the third most popular choice, alongside the Green Party.

For Gen-Z women, it was the least popular option, alongside the Tories. But it was among 16-17-year-olds that the gender gap was the widest.

Surprisingly, Farage’s party was as popular as Labour among young men in that age group, according to a poll by JL Partners in the week of the general election. The contrast with young women in that group is stark – Reform UK lagging far behind Labour and the Green Party.

So, in a party where the median age of an MP is 60, how is it hooking in younger voters?

The popularity of Gen-Z skewing social platforms like TikTok is part of the answer. Reform was quick to engage with a younger audience there – racking up 308,100 followers. That is more than any other major political party, just ahead of Labour on 233,100.

Farage’s personal TikTok now has over a million followers, a fact he announced last week during a press conference in which he said the party’s membership had reached 100,000.

He also gave a breakdown of how old his social media followers seem to be. “We get tens of millions of views every single month. Two thirds of that million are under the age of 35. Half of them are under the age of 25. Something remarkable is happening with Gen-Z,” he said.

And it’s not just TikTok. Reform UK had far and away the highest number of social media page interactions across all platforms during the election, according to analysis by Crowdtangle.

Among its young followers are right-wing political influencers, like Nicholas Lissack.

A smartly dressed student with strong right-wing views, Nick was surprised when his first TikTok video supporting Reform went viral in the run-up to the 2024 general election. In the video, which was watched almost 4 million times in 24 hours, he urged other first-time voters to follow his example and support Reform UK.

A week later, Nick found himself backstage at a pre-election Reform UK rally, meeting his “political hero” – Mr Farage. In another video, he calls their conversation “beautiful” and says they discussed the “ludicrous” price of pints and golf, alongside politics.

He describes his videos as “short, snappy and energetic… I come across like I’m having a fun time”. They’re snappily titled too – a glance over his TikTok page offers two-minute videos with titles like Labour Hates Us, Is Reform UK Fascist? and Ban Notting Hill Carnival. That energy has also translated across X/Twitter, where he now has tens of thousands of followers.

But he admits, not all his peers share his views.

“I lost quite a few friends over this but in that time, I gained 40,000 Twitter followers.”

Since we spoke, he’s gained a further 10,000.

So what about women?

Reform UK was proud of the fact it was able to stand a candidate in nearly every seat.

But, according to the campaign group 50:50 parliament, less than a fifth of its candidates were women. Five white men were chosen for seats the party deemed winnable, leading to Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock being elected to parliament.

Controversially, this year, Nigel Farage told Sky News that the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate was “an important voice for men”.

Tate is currently banned from YouTube for breaching hate speech rules. He is also banned from Facebook and was described by Meta as a “dangerous individual”. He was also accused of rape, people trafficking and organised crime – though he denies these allegations.

For Nick, being frank about his political opinions has helped his videos reach a wide audience. He attributes his success to men feeling “increasingly disenfranchised” in the wake of “fourth-wave feminism”.

“Reform offers an exciting alternative because it doesn’t discriminate… Young men are drawn to it because they see it as an opportunity to dig their teeth into politics,” he said.

Another new voice in the right-wing political space is George Finch. He enjoyed similar success to Nick over the summer, making videos in support of Mr Farage’s party. Since then, he’s started The New Reformer, an online magazine which he describes as “By Reformers, for Reformers”. Articles have provocative titles like “Project 2029 – dismantling the woke state” and “Since When Is It Divisive to Be British?”.

He thinks the party doesn’t have a problem attracting voters who are women.

“To say that women are put off by Reform is wrong. If it’s something you think is a problem I’m sure HQ are looking at it”.

Will it work?

“There was something about TikTok that worked for Reform,” says Dr Jilly Kay, a senior lecturer in Communication and Media at Loughborough University. “Nigel Farage’s performance and his way of connecting with people worked effectively. We see that in the increased support among young male voters.”

But she also thinks Reform can tap into something more fundamental and give clarity to voters who feel adrift after a period of unstable politics.

“As a young man you’re told you can’t do this, you can’t do that. Farage is trying to give that sense of permission,” Dr Kay explains. “[Reform UK] has that sense of freedom and power which people like Farage claim is being denied to men and boys.”

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But other experts warn that this surge in youthful support could be being overstated.

“Reform undoubtedly has distinct appeal among some sections of young voters: specifically, young men from poorer backgrounds, and who are unlikely to attend university,” says Dr Stuart Fox, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Exeter.

But according to Dr Fox, Reform UK is far less popular among young voters overall than parties such as the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour. He also points out the challenges of engaging the specific youthful demographic most likely to support them.

“Those young people to whom Reform most appeal – young men from poorer backgrounds – are by far the least likely to vote. It will be a real challenge for Reform to capitalise on its appeal to those voters in elections.”

The first signs of whether it can in fact capitalise on this so-called “bro vote” will be at next year’s local elections. It will be a key test for the party and, if it succeeds, its ambitions are high.

Reform UK wants to secure its future and not only challenge the Tories’ status as the leading right-wing group in UK politics but eventually become the governing party in Britain.

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In response Reform UK said: “Reform UK has all the momentum in British politics. This is shown by the surge in support by younger voters.

“We have now surpassed 100,000 members and our polling continues to rise. Young people recognise that the Tories and Labour have failed them and that Britain needs Reform.

“We will harness this momentum as we head into next May and future elections and offer young people real change.”