LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth, who's on holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, announced Wednesday she has given her consent to the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend the British Parliament.

It means the House of Commons will sit only for a few days after it returns next Tuesday from its summer recess. Parliament will then resume with a State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch on Oct 14, just over two weeks before Britain's planned departure from the European Union (EU).