Queen Elizabeth ends COVID-19 isolation with Trudeau meeting

Queen Elizabeth II met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in her first official meeting since spending weeks in COVID-19 isolation, The Associated Press reported. 

Trudeau is visiting Great Britain for talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Pictures from the short meeting showed Trudeau clasping the Queen’s hands with both hands as the two share a warm smile with a vase of yellow and blue flowers placed in the background, according to the AP.

The meeting comes as the Queen’s first since Buckingham Palace announced last month that the monarch tested positive for COVID-19. 

Trudeau, whose father, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, has had a good relationship with Queen Elizabeth, said in a statement he has the privilege of knowing the monarch for most of his life. 

Queen Elizabeth, who is also the Queen of Canada, has visited the country more than 20 times during her 70-year reign, the AP reported. 

“I can tell you that in my conversation with her this morning she was as insightful and perspicacious as ever,” Trudeau said.  

Although declining to give an update on Elizabeth’s health, Buckingham Palace’s officials have said that the queen is fully vaccinated against the virus and has received her booster shot.

Queen Elizabeth, 95, has been living at Windsor Castle since the beginning of the pandemic, the AP noted.