She had not reappeared publicly for a week. Tuesday, October 26, 2021, Elizabeth II made her return from Windsor Castle, by interposed screens. The 95-year-old sovereign was smiling in her yellow ensemble during several virtual audiences with ambassadors. An appearance that was expected following his brief hospitalization last week.
As AFP reported, citing a statement from Buckingham, Elizabeth II – virtually – received the credentials of South Korea’s ambassadors Gunn Kim and Switzerland’s Markus Leitner on Tuesday morning. This is her first public appearance since October 19, the day she took part in the reception of the Global Investment Conference at Windsor Castle with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Bill Gates and John Kerry (see slideshow).
The queen then spent the night from Wednesday to Thursday at the private Edward VII hospital in London to undergo “preliminary examinations”. Following the advice of her doctors, who had recommended her to rest, she had then “reluctantly” canceled her planned trip to Northern Ireland. She therefore resumes her royal engagements smoothly, limiting herself to “light tasks”, as the palace had announced.
What to gain strength with an important meeting: the COP26 to be held early next week in Glasgow, Scotland. An event for which she will probably be accompanied by another senior member of the royal family, a measure that Buckingham has reportedly put in place following the express visit to the hospital last week.
A trying time
Although she has an iron health, the sovereign is perhaps the blow of the last few months, which have been trying: after having faced Brexit, then the precipitous departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for California, Elizabeth II was forced to leave Buckingham to confine herself to Winsdor at the start of the health crisis.
Above all, she lost her lifelong husband, Prince Philip, who died last April at the age of 99, while monitoring the legal disputes of her son Prince Andrew, accused of sexual abuse of a minor across the Atlantic … Despite everything , the queen continues to keep her commitments with a smile, faithful to her legendary composure, she who is preparing to celebrate her 70 years of reign.