Carrying on! Queen Elizabeth II got back to work days after being forced to skip the U.K.’s annual Remembrance Day service.
The monarch, 95, welcomed General Sir Nicholas Carter at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, November 17, according to Buckingham Palace. In video footage of the meeting, the queen told the military member that his stepping down from his role was “rather sad.”
Elizabeth stood in a floral print dress as she shook her guest’s hand. When he entered the room, one of her dogs rushed to greet him at the door.
The royal engagement occurred shortly after Elizabeth missed an appearance on Sunday, November 14. “The Queen, having sprained her back, has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today’s Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph,” a statement from the palace revealed that morning. “Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service.”
The annual event, which honors military servicemen and women, was instead attended by Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, Prince William and Duchess Kate. Elizabeth’s eldest son, 73, laid down a wreath at the London memorial on her behalf.
In October, the royal matriarch was briefly hospitalized after canceling a visit to Northern Ireland on medical recommendation. She continued to work via video call but later postponed another trip to Scotland at the end of the month.
“The queen says she’s fine and doing well, but she’s said that before, so naturally [the family is] concerned,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively of Elizabeth’s hospital stay. “They’d been urging her to take it easy for months.”
While the ruler is “not a quitter and will continue working,” the insider added that Elizabeth considered “handing over some of her duties” to Charles and William, 39, amid her recovery.
Prince Harry, for his part, went into “panic mode” when he heard about his grandmother’s health scare, a second source revealed. The Duke of Sussex, 37, relocated to California with wife Meghan Markle following their 2020 step down from their senior roles, which was made permanent earlier this year.
“He felt helpless being 5,000 miles away … and has been checking in nonstop with her,” the insider told Us. “[He] would never forgive himself if the same thing happened with his beloved grandmother.”
The couple, who wed in May 2018, share son Archie, 2, and daughter Lilibet, 5 months. Following their second child’s arrival, the Archewell cofounders noted that the little one’s name is an homage to the queen.
Scroll down for a look at the royal’s Windsor Castle engagement: