The Queen online and on duty in first public engagement since death of Prince Philip
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The Queen returned to official duties with a smile on Tuesday as she carried out her first public engagements since the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
Her Majesty was photographed at work for the first time since her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, 99, died at Windsor Castle on April 9.
She held two virtual audiences at Windsor via video-link.
No longer in a black mourning outfit, the Queen, 95, was dressed in a pale blue floral dress, wearing a diamond brooch, as she sat at a computer screen to speak with Ivita Burmistre, the ambassador from the Republic of Latvia, pictured below, and Sara Affoue Amani, ambassador from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, who were both at Buckingham Palace.
Two weeks of royal mourning for the Duke ended for the Royal family and their households last Friday, meaning the Windsors were allowed to go back to work full-time.
Days after the Duke’s death, the Queen held an audience and investiture with Earl Peel, who was relinquishing his role as Lord Chamberlain. A day later she welcomed her new Lord Chamberlain, Baron Parker, but she was not photographed at either event.
Meanwhile, the Guards regiments confirmed that a scaled-back Trooping the Colour will take place at Windsor Castle for the second year running to mark the Queen’s official birthday.
The celebration of the Queen’s official birthday in June will see the Scots Guards parade in front of the monarch, with the event broadcast live on BBC One, they said on Twitter.
Buckingham Palace has yet to officially announce the details and the tweet was later deleted.
The event was cancelled in its traditional form in March because of the pandemic.
The mini Trooping is expected to take place in the grounds of Windsor on June 12, two days after what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.
A YouGov poll published on Tuesday found that the Earl of Wessex and the Prince of Wales had seen the largest boost in public opinion in the last month, while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the only family members whose popularity fell.
The majority of Britons want the Queen to stay in the role for the rest of her life,queen while only a fifth say she should step down.
The poll was conducted last week, following the Duke’s funeral.
Cambridges take it in turns driving tractor
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took turns behind the wheel of a tractor as they visited a family farm in County Durham.
William and Kate travelled to Manor Farm, Little Stainton, near Darlington on Tuesday to carry out the official engagement - two days before their 10th wedding anniversary.
Two weeks of royal mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh ended on Friday for the Windsors and William and Kate were out of their black mourning outfits and dressed casually for the countryside.
At the fifth-generation family-run mixed cattle, sheep and arable farm, William and Kate were taken on a tour of the cattle, calving and lambing sheds by owners Clare Wise and Stewart Chapman.
