The Queen shows her support and concern for the people of Ukraine as she meets with Canada’s Prime Minister.
Queen Elizabeth II showed her solidarity with Ukraine as she stood in front of a large bouquet of blue and yellow flowers during her first in-person engagement with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since catching Covid.
Her Majesty received Mr. Trudeau, who is in the UK for talks on the war in Ukraine, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte inside the Oak Room at Windsor Castle.
Mr. Trudeau was seen laughing as he was charmed by the 95-year-old monarch, who just happened to be standing in front of some blue and yellow flowers which are the colors of the Ukrainian flag, the royal family is famously supposed to remain neutral on political issues, so the Queen would not be expected to comment on the Russia-Ukraine war.
It seems that her majesty has demonstrated her support in a more subtle way unless the flowers in the Oak Room just happened to be those colors. The monarch, who is also Queen of Canada, can be seen standing and smiling warmly at Mr. Trudeau as he held her right hand in both of his.
Mr. Trudeau said: “I can tell you in my conversation with her this morning she was as insightful and perspicacious as ever, very interested in what’s going on.”
The subtle tribute comes just days after the Queen reportedly made a “generous donation” to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine appeal, the palace did not announce the donation and declined to say how much was given but the charity publicly thanked the monarch on social media earlier this month.
Her Majesty’s show of solidarity comes as hundreds of civilians were today pictured trying to flee the city of Irpin, to the west of Kyiv, which has been the scene of heavy Russian bombardment in recent days.
Residents were helped across a partially-destroyed bridge by members of the Ukrainian military who had blown it up days earlier to slow the Russian advance.
The images came after Ukraine rejected Russia’s offer to open up “humanitarian corridors” from the besieged cities of Sumy, Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Kyiv which have been hammered by artillery strikes for days with Mariupol cut off from electricity and water supplies because the routes led either to Russian territory or its ally, Belarus.
The Queen has a strong bond with Canada as the commonwealth nation has been the most frequent overseas destination she has visited more than 20 times, including a trip as a princess, but she called time on her official overseas visits seven years ago.
Mr. Trudeau met the Queen several times as a young child in the 1970s as his father, Pierre Trudeau, was one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers.
The Queen tested positive for coronavirus on February 20, just days after Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall both contracted the virus. Understood to be triple vaccinated, the Queen is thought to have experienced mild cold-like symptoms.
She has two high-profile events coming up this month, the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14 and the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service, also at the abbey, on March 29.
It is known Her Majesty often uses the settings behind her to portray messages, and royal fans enjoy looking for “Easter eggs” in the background to learn more about life as a monarch.
Last month, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a playful feature in Windsor Castle, a cardboard cutout of Queen’s guardsman holding up a real tray for her drinks.
In a clip of her meeting with the incoming defense services secretary Major General Eldon Millar and his predecessor Rear Admiral James Macleod, a family photo that has not yet been seen by the public was spotted in the background.
In her speech at Christmas last year, the monarch placed a photograph of herself with the late Prince Philip on the table next to her to signal her first festive season without her husband of 73 years.