The Queen looked on cheery form as she held a face-to-face audience with the president of Switzerland at Windsor Castle – her first official engagement since a week-long break on the Sandringham estate.
The monarch smiled broadly as she shook hands and posed for photographs with Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola in her Oak Room sitting room.
The Queen returned to her Berkshire castle a day ago after staying at the late Duke of Edinburgh’s Wood Farm cottage where she celebrated her 96th birthday.
She stood without her walking stick and was dressed in a blue and grey paisley-style patterned silk dress for the audience on Thursday.
Buckingham Palace said the sovereign is hoping to attend the State Opening of Parliament in less than two weeks’ time, on May 10, but confirmation is expected closer to the time or on the day.
Her high-profile Platinum Jubilee celebrations are just over a month away.
The exceptions were in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Andrew and then Prince Edward, when her speech was read by the Lord Chancellor.
