Queen appears on screen for virtual audiences

The Queen has held two virtual audiences at Windsor Castle – the day after presenting the George Cross to the NHS.

The 96-year-old monarch continued her run of official engagements by welcoming the High Commissioners of Guyana and Eswatini by video-link.

The diplomats – High Commissioner of Eswatini Thandazile Mbuyisa and High Commissioner of Guyana Dr Rajendra Singh – presented their credentials separately at Buckingham Palace.

From the Oak Room in her Berkshire castle, the monarch, wearing a summery blue and yellow floral dress, chatted to her guests on screen as she sat at her desk.

On Tuesday, the Queen praised the “amazing” Covid-19 vaccine rollout as she celebrated the achievements of the NHS across the decades by awarding the institution the George Cross.

The head of state was joined by the Prince of Wales for a small ceremony where health leaders from the four home nations were each awarded the medal.

They also met frontline workers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including May Parsons, the matron who gave the world’s first Covid-19 vaccination outside clinical trials to Maggie Keenan on December 8 2020.

The Queen was on fine form and, when told about Ms Parsons’ historic first, she made her guests laugh with the quip: “You’re still alive?”