Queen has afternoon tea with Canada’s Governor General at Windsor

The Queen has hosted Canada’s Governor General for afternoon tea – the day after missing the Commonwealth Day service.

The monarch, 95, carried out the official in-person engagement, welcoming Mary Simon to her Windsor Castle home on Tuesday.

The Queen’s absence from the major Commonwealth event at Westminster Abbey on Monday was understood to be due to comfort rather than a specific illness.

The head of state, who reached her Platinum Jubilee last month, has faced a bout of Covid in recent weeks and also spent more than three months from October on doctors’ orders to only conduct light duties.

The Governor General is the Queen’s representative in Canada and acts on the monarch’s behalf to uphold the country’s system of responsible government.

She took up her post in July in the wake of a scandal over the nation’s long mistreatment of indigenous people.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Queen held two virtual audiences.

Mongolian ambassador Enkhsukh Battumur, in traditional dress, presented his letters of credence as he spoke to the monarch online.

The Queen also greeted Rukhshona Emomali, the republic of Tajikistan’s diplomat.

In her message on Commonwealth Day, the monarch 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.