Queen gets back to work with diplomat meeting a day after missing Commonwealth Day service
Her Majesty, who recently recovered from COVID after suffering mild symptoms, pulled out of attending the annual celebration of the Commonwealth, although not due to illness.
Tuesday 15 March 2022 15:24, UK
The Queen has carried out virtual audiences at Windsor just one day after missing the Commonwealth Day service.
Her Majesty spoke to the ambassadors of Mongolia and Tajikistan on a video-link at her Berkshire home today.
Mongolian ambassador Enkhsukh Battumur presented his letters of credence as he spoke to the monarch online.
The 95-year-old also greeted Rukhshona Emomali, the republic of Tajikistan's diplomat.
It comes a day after Prince Charles represented his mother in Westminster Abbey for the annual celebration of the Commonwealth.
The Queen, who has just recovered from COVID, pulled out of attending the high-profile event, although it is not believed to be due to illness.
She released a written message instead just ahead of the Westminster Abbey service that marked Commonwealth Day.
Other attendees at the service included Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and hundreds of dignitaries and young people.
In her message, the Queen said it had made her happy during her Platinum Jubilee year to reaffirm the pledge she made in 1947 as a 21-year-old to devote her life in service.
The Queen told the Commonwealth: "Our family of nations continues to be a point of connection, co-operation and friendship.
"It is a place to come together to pursue common goals and the common good, providing everyone with the opportunity to serve and benefit.
"In these testing times, it is my hope that you can draw strength and inspiration from what we share, as we work together towards a healthy, sustainable and prosperous future for all."
During the service, the former Archbishop of York, Lord Sentamu, paid tribute to the Queen.
In his address to the Westminster Abbey congregation, the peer said: "And so for 70 years the Queen has modelled her reign on the one who said 'whoever shall be great among you shall be your servant and whoever desires to be first shall be a slave of all'."
Read more: Prince Harry will not return to the UK later this month for Prince Philip's memorial service
The former Archbishop, who now sits in the Lords, went on to say: "The Christian ideals of the love of neighbour and compassion have given shape to the Queen's leadership."
Lord Sentamu then made the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge laugh when at the end of his speech he urged the congregation to cheer the monarch after he said the words "hip, hip, hip".