LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II held an audience with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in her first in-person engagement since recovering from Covid-19.
Elizabeth, who is also the Queen of Canada, met with Trudeau at Windsor Castle, where she has stayed since the outbreak of the pandemic. Trudeau was in the UK for talks on the Ukraine war with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and their Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte.
The queen has a firm attachment to Canada, a nation she has visited more than 20 times.
The pair have known each other for some time. Trudeau, 50, met the monarch several times as a child because his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers.
Pictures from the engagement show Trudeau warmly embracing Elizabeth’s hand in both of his. They both smile warmly.
Trudeau said he had had the privilege of knowing the queen for about 45 years, and “I can tell you that in my conversation with her this morning she was as insightful and perspicacious as ever.”
Both have tested positive for Covid. Trudeau went into isolation for five days after his diagnosis in January.
The palace’s Feb. 20 announcement that Elizabeth had tested positive test prompted concern about the 95-year-old monarch.
The palace has declined to offer day-to day commentary on the monarch’s health, citing her right to privacy. But palace officials have said that Elizabeth has been fully vaccinated including a booster shot.
After canceling virtual engagements following her diagnosis, she resumed some last week with the ambassadors of Chad and Andorra.