Queen Elizabeth meets Canada PM Trudeau in first in-person meeting since catching COVID

Queen Elizabeth II held an audience with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in her first in-person engagement since recovering from COVID-19. Elizabeth, who is also the Queen of Canada, met Trudeau at Windsor Castle, where she has stayed since the outbreak of the pandemic. Trudeau was in the UK for talks on the Ukraine war with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and their Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte.

The queen has a firm attachment to Canada, a nation she has visited more than 20 times. The pair have known each other for some time. Trudeau met the monarch several times as a child because his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers. Pictures from the engagement show Trudeau warmly embracing Elizabeth’s hand in both of his. They exchange a pleasant smile.

The palace has refused to provide daily updates on the monarch's health, citing her right to privacy as an excuse. However, palace officials claim Queen Elizabeth has had all of her vaccinations, including a booster dose. In what appeared to be a covert statement of support for Ukraine, the 95-year-old welcomed Trudeau in front of a vase of blue and yellow flowers and wore a blue patterned dress. It is worth noting that Ukraine's national flag is blue and yellow in colour.

Queen tested COVID positive last month

On February 20, the Queen tested positive for coronavirus, only days after Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall also became infected. As a young child in the 1970s, The Queen is said to have had minor cold-like symptoms despite being triple vaccinated. Further, Prince Charles had tested positive for COVID for the second time just days previously, and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, had been diagnosed with the virus too.

Moreover, the Commonwealth Ceremony at Westminster Abbey on March 14 and the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral service at Westminster Abbey on March 29 are two high-profile events scheduled for the Queen this month. On doctors' recommendations, she recently rested for more than three months. Due to a sprained back, she was unable to attend the Cop26 climate change summit, the Festival of Remembrance, and subsequently the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service last October.

(With inputs from agencies)