Smiling Queen holds face-to-face audience with Switzerland president

Smiling Queen stands unaided as she holds face-to-face audience with president of Switzerland at Windsor Castle after returning from week-long break at Sandringham for her 96th birthday

• Monarch smiled broadly as she posed with Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola
• She stood without walking stick dressed in blue and grey patterned silk dress
• Queen flew back to her Berkshire castle yesterday after celebrating her birthday

A smiling Queen stood unaided today as she held a face-to-face audience with the president of Switzerland at Windsor Castle.

The monarch, who returned from a week-long break at her Sandringham estate yesterday, smiled broadly as she posed for photographs with Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola in her Oak Room sitting room this morning.

The Queen stood without her walking stick and was dressed in a blue and grey paisley-style patterned silk dress.

A smiling Queen stood unaided today as she held a face-to-face audience with the president of Switzerland at Windsor Castle

The monarch, who returned from a week-long break at her Sandringham estate yesterday, smiled broadly as she posed for photographs with Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola in her Oak Room sitting room this morning

She flew back to her Berkshire castle in a Sikorsky S-76C helicopter with The Queen’s Helicopter Flight team from the Royal Household, after spending time away at her Norfolk retreat where she celebrated turning 96 last Thursday.

Yesterday, the Queen was photographed being driven away from Wood Farm – a cottage nestled in the far reaches of the country estate – in a Range Rover at around 11.30am before getting into the helicopter.

She was spotted in the back seat of the car as she was chauffeur-driven away from the five-bedroom farmhouse which was the home in retirement of her late husband Prince Philip, who died in April last year. 

The Queen has told how the Duke of Edinburgh ‘loved’ the cottage and part of its attraction was because the ‘sea was so close’.

The monarch arrived in Sandringham last week to spend her 96th birthday privately, and over the last few days she has been seen visiting her stables on the estate with her racing manager John Warren. 

There were no public engagements for her birthday, but there will be celebrations for her official birthday and Platinum Jubilee in June.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said she 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.

The Queen, who has experienced mobility issues in recent months, has opened Parliament on all but two occasions during her reign.

The exceptions were in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and then Prince Edward, when her speech was read by the Lord Chancellor.

In just over a month’s time, the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend will get under way, celebrating the nation’s longest reigning head of state’s 70 years on the throne.

Festivities include Trooping the Colour, beacon lighting, a service of thanksgiving, the Epsom Derby, a pop concert at Buckingham Palace, and a spectacular Jubilee Pageant on the streets of London.

It has not yet been confirmed how many of the high-profile events the Queen will be able to attend.

The Queen stood without her walking stick and was dressed in a blue and grey paisley-style patterned silk dress

The Queen is driven away from Wood Farm on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk in a Range Rover at around 11.30am yesterday 

The Queen flies from Sandringham to Windsor in a Sikorsky S-76C helicopter by a team from The Queen’s Helicopter Flight

Meanwhile, today’s meeting came amid claims from Harry and Meghan’s friend Omid Scobie that the couple kept their Windsor meeting with the Queen secret from her staff because her grandson ‘has every reason’ to question if they all have her ‘best interests at heart’.

Royal aides have accused the Duke of Sussex of ‘breathtaking arrogance’ after he claimed he wanted to ‘protect’ the Queen, despite moving 5,000 miles away to California.

The author of the Finding Freedom biography alleged that the Sussexes kept their flying visit to Windsor almost two weeks ago a secret – although royal insiders have questioned whether this would be possible given they stayed in the grounds the night before their 30-minute meeting with the monarch, whose diary is carefully managed by staff.

Writing for Yahoo he said: ‘While the Sussexes and the Queen have been in regular contact over the phone or virtually, their recent in-person meeting – which was purposefully kept a secret from all palace aides – was Harry’s first chance in a year to truly speak privately with his grandmother without fear of anyone overhearing or wandering in the background of a video call’.

Mr Scobie also described how his ‘jaw dropped’ when he heard historic claims that Her Majesty’s private secretary Edward Young was accused of refusing to allow the Sussexes to visit the monarch at Sandringham.

And the royal reporter was similarly scathing about the Queen’s dresser and confidante Angela Kelly, who he claims was determined to put Meghan ‘in her place’.

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