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The Queen’s sprightly appearance during her meeting with Justin Trudeau ‘gives hope that she will be able to fully enjoy her Platinum Jubilee celebrations’, a royal expert has said.
Her Majesty, 95, yesterday held her first in-person engagement since catching Covid, meeting the Canadian Prime Minister at Windsor Castle.
In photographs shared of the engagement, the royal was pictured in a patterned blue dress, standing without a face mask or the aid of a walking-stick.
Royal author Phil Dampier told FEMAIL: ‘It’s wonderful to see the Queen back meeting people after recovering from Covid…
‘Most importantly the fact she is well again gives hope that she will be able to fully enjoy her Platinum Jubilee celebrations later in the year.’
The Queen’s sprightly appearance during her meeting with Justin Trudeau (pictured) ‘gives hope that she will be able to fully enjoy her Platinum Jubilee celebrations’, a royal expert has said
Her Majesty (pictured), 95, yesterday held her first in-person engagement since catching Covid, meeting the Canadian Prime Minister at Windsor Castle
He added: ‘She would have been very pleased to see Justin Trudeau as she takes her role as Head of State in Canada very seriously.
‘How many world leaders can say they knew a visiting Prime Minister’s father when he was PM as was Pierre Trudeau?’
The expert continued: ‘She may be suffering from stiffness in her legs and hips, but it will be wonderful to see her enjoy The Derby, Trooping the Colour and all the other events in June.’
He also suggested that the Queen hates wearing face masks and ‘longs to return to normality’.
‘It was noticeable that the Queen didn’t wear a mask in contrast to Kier Starmer who met Trudeau later in the day,’ said the expert. ‘She hates wearing them and longs to return to normality.’
Queen appears on a screen via videolink from Windsor Castle, where she is in residence, during a virtual audience to receive the Ambassador of Armenia, Mr. Varuzhan Nersesyan, and Mrs. Narine Malkhasyan, at Buckingham Palace
The Queen during a virtual audience to receive the High Commissioner of India, Ms. Gaitri Issar Kumar, at Buckingham Palace, London
The expert also suggested that the Queen hates wearing face masks and ‘longs to return to normality’. The monarch wore a face covering to attend the funeral of her husband Prince Philip in April 2021 (pictured)
The Queen has made fewer appearances in public during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many of her engagements switching to virtual events, and has rarely been seen wearing a face covering.
She first stepped out in a mask to visit the grave of the Unknown Warrior in November 2020, six months after the outbreak of the virus.
The monarch also wore a face covering to attend the funeral of her husband Prince Philip in April 2021.
In the photographs, Mr Trudeau was seen laughing as the Queen gestured towards herself during the meeting in the Oak Room sitting room.
In the background of the images, a bouquet of blue and yellow flowers could be seen in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
The Queen held her first in-person engagement since catching Covid, meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (pictured)
Mr Dampier added: ‘The Queen was inspirational during the pandemic, and now we need her keep calm and carry on attitude during the Ukraine crisis.
‘It was a lovely touch for her to have yellow and blue flowers in the background, the colours of the Ukraine flag.’
Meanwhile Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Philip, I Know I Am Rude, said despite the Queen’s apparent good spirits, she faces a ‘tough year’ ahead.
The royal expert said: ‘It is really great to see the Queen bounce back for the Jubilee.
‘She will need all the strength as the Maxwell perjury trial that centres on her son’s visit to his then friends Epstein and Maxwell in New York in 2001.
‘The prince has just settled with a reported 12 million to Virginia Giuffre who was there.
Her Majesty, 95, received Mr Trudeau – who is in the UK for talks on the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte – in an audience at Windsor Castle today
‘But now the possibility has been raised that Johanna Sjoberg, the twenty-one-year old who was with Virginia Giuffre at Epstein and Maxwell’s, might sue.
‘Then there’s Giuffre’s victim impact statement at Maxwell’s sentencing hearing in June, further to her guilty verdict of underage sex trafficking, that is likely to overshadow the jubilee celebrations.
‘It is going to be a tough year and she will miss the tower of strength she had in Prince Philip.’
The Queen tested positive for Covid on February 20 and has spent the last two weeks carrying out only light duties including a handful of virtual audiences.
But yesterday marked a return to normality for the Queen, who appeared overjoyed to be chatting to Mr Trudeau.
The monarch, who is also Queen of Canada, was pictured in a patterned dress, standing and smiling warmly at Mr Trudeau as he held her right hand in both of his
The Queen has a strong bond with Canada. The Commonwealth realm has been her most frequent overseas destination.
She has visited more than 20 times, including a trip as a princess, but a number of years ago she called time on her official overseas visits.
As a young child in the 1970s, Mr Trudeau met the Queen several times through his father, Pierre Trudeau, who was one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers.
Mr Trudeau later spoke warmly of their meeting.
‘I have had the particular privilege of having known Her Majesty for about 45 years now, and I can tell you that in my conversation with her this morning she was as insightful and perspicacious as ever, very interested in what is going on, asked me all sorts of questions about Canada,’ he told a Downing Street news conference.
‘We had a really useful, for me anyway, conversation about global events, as we always do.’
Mr Trudeau was also seen laughing as the Queen gestured towards herself during the meeting in the Oak Room sitting room
The Queen and the Ambassador of Armenia, Mr. Varuzhan Nersesyan during their virtual audience
The Queen and the High Commissioner of India, Ms. Gaitri Issar Kumar, during their virtual audience
Last Tuesday, the Prince of Wales said his mother was ‘a lot better now’, and the head of state was pictured holding her first virtual audiences since her coronavirus diagnosis.
The Queen has two high-profile events coming up – the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14, and then the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service, also at the Abbey, on March 29.
The nation’s longest reigning monarch, who reached her Platinum Jubilee milestone last month, recently spent more than three months resting, on doctors’ orders.
Last autumn she pulled out of attending the Cop26 climate change summit, the Festival of Remembrance and then the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service due to a sprained back.
She also missed the Church of England’s General Synod.
The Queen now regularly uses a walking stick and remarked during a Windsor Castle audience last month: ‘Well, as you can see, I can’t move.’
Mr Trudeau is joining Mr Johnson as part of intense diplomatic efforts with foreign leaders to build a united front against Vladimir Putin.
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