 In February 1964 , she had an emergency appendectomy , which led to the postponement of a planned tour of Australia , New Zealand and Fiji until 1966 . She recuperated during a Caribbean cruise aboard the royal yacht , Britannia . In December 1966 , she underwent an operation to remove a tumour after she was diagnosed with colon cancer . Contrary to rumours , she did not have a colostomy . In 1982 , she was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat , and had an operation to remove it . Being a keen angler , she calmly joked afterwards , " The salmon have got their own back . " Similar incidents occurred at Balmoral in August 1986 , when she was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary but no operation was needed , and May 1993 , when she was admitted to the Infirmary for surgery under general anaesthetic . In 1984 , she had a second operation for cancer , when a lump was removed from her breast , and a second gastric obstruction in 1986 cleared without the need for an operation , but she was hospitalised overnight . 
