The Queen speaks in public for first time since Philip's death
The Queen has spoken publicly for the first time since the sad death of her husband Prince Philip.
Appearing on a recent Zoom call with lifesavers and researchers from The Royal Life Saving Society — for whom Her Majesty is a patron — she remembered her own experiences with the organisation, including achieving a Life Saving Award in 1941 when she was aged just 14.
Despite having kept a lower profile than usual lately, following the sad passing of her husband of 73 years last month, the Queen appeared happy and buoyant in the video call; even treating the lifesavers to a smile at the end, as she recalled her time with the society
The video posted to the Royal Family's official Instagram account, features pictures of the Queen aged 14, undergoing training and attempting rescues, before being seen proudly pinning her medal to her swimming costume — as well as footage of this week's call.
The accompanying caption explains how The Royal Life Saving Society works with Commonwealth nations to combat death by drowning; with approx. 235,000 preventable deaths occurring each year.
When asked by the society members to recall a stand-out memory from her time with them, the Queen shared: 'It was all done in the Bath Club, in the swimming pool and I suppose I didn’t really actually realise what I was doing because I was only twelve or something…
'Twelve or fourteen? It’s a very long time ago I’m afraid, it's terrible!
'I think it’s changed a lot,' she noted with a smile.
The Queen was pleased to discover that she was the first to ever receive the award, admitting that she 'just did it and had to work very hard for it.'
Adding that 'it was a great achievement and I was very proud to wear the badge on the front of my swimming suit.'
The video was only shared yesterday but has already received nearly a million views, with people quick to heap praise on the monarch, thanking her 'for all [her] hard work,' and noting that they were 'glad to see Her Majesty smiling.'
One royal fan simply stated: 'What hasn't the queen done. Amazing woman,' while another enthusiast said that they were 'loving zoom chats with The Queen.'
Despite this being the Queen's first public virtual appearance since Philip's sad passing in April, she's still been carrying out official duties in recent weeks, following the Royal Family's official mourning period of two weeks. As well as holding a virtual audience with incoming Global ambassadors on the 27th April, the monarch is due to carry out her first in-person engagement today, at the scaled-back State Opening of Parliament, where she'll be supported by Prince Charles and Camilla.
We're glad to see Her Majesty getting back on her feet after what has inevitably been a very sad time for her!
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