The Queen ditches her walking stick as she returns to duty
The Queen stood unaided as she held an in-person audience with the president of Switzerland at Windsor Castle on Thursday - 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 the castle's Oak Room.
After staying at the late Duke of Edinburgh's Wood Farm cottage, where she celebrated her 96th birthday, Her Majesty returned to her Berkshire castle a day ago.
She stood without her walking stick and was dressed in a blue and grey paisley-style patterned silk dress.
She was wearing her fruit-themed sapphire and diamond grapes brooch, which features a sapphire bow and 16 small diamonds shaped like a bunch of grapes. It was inherited from the Queen Mother.
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 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 the Duke of York and then pregnant with the Earl of Wessex. On those occasions, her speech was read by the Lord Chancellor.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited the BBC to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service, where they paid tribute to journalists working to ensure the public has the "impartial truth".
The couple praised BBC staff for their work covering wars in Ukraine and Afghanistan. The Prince told Lyse Doucet and Clive Myrie, broadcasters at the corporation: "You're incredible, but it can't be easy."
During the visit, the Prince of Wales appeared surprised when a young Afghan woman, who was part of an emergency evacuation of BBC staff from Kabul last August, thanked him for "saving my life".
Surrounded by staff from the World Service at New Broadcasting House, the BBC's London headquarters, the Prince ended the visit by saying: "I know just how much it must take for many of those who are broadcasting in the most difficult of circumstances.
"But also what it takes in order to make sure that people do have access to the impartial truth, and particularly in conflict situations.
"So I'm full of admiration, for what it's worth, for everything you do and your colleagues on the ground, and those of you who have had to escape from other countries, all too frequently nowadays, from all this depressing amount of conflict around the world - so thank you for all the efforts you make."
