Unfortunately, the affairs of state never cease, but they have allowed Queen Elizabeth to immerse herself in work while her husband, Prince Philip, remains in the hospital.
In her role as Queen of Australia, Elizabeth has held a video call with a couple of her subjects from the other side of the world. She spoke to the Governor of South Australia, His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le, and the Hon. Steven Marshall MP, Premier of South Australia.
At the start of the call, Hieu Van Le said that he was aware that this was Elizabeth’s first video call to Australia and that they were “so honored to be receiving this call from” her.
The two men explained to Elizabeth II how the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination was progressing in South Australia.
They informed her that the State was currently vaccinating frontline workers but would soon be moving on to the general populace.
She was also briefed on the impact and recovery attempts following the drought and bushfires that wreaked havoc in early 2020.
Queen Elizabeth was surprised with a statue of herself
Le and Marshall then surprised Her Majesty by unveiling a statue of the Queen recently placed on the grounds of Government House in Adelaide. They informed her that the spot had become very popular with people taking photographs.
Her Majesty laughed at the photograph remark and said: “Oh, really?” She then showed off her trademark wit by joking that “it must be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window… you’d think, gracious, has she arrived unexpectedly!”
The small group was joined by sculptor Robert Hannaford, who presented the Queen with a scale model of the statue, which will be sent to her at Windsor Castle.
The Queen thanked Hannaford, saying, “That’s very kind,” before joking, “I’m glad it’s not as big as the original.”
Prince Philip has been in the hospital for two weeks
The Queen is currently without her husband, Prince Philip, who has been in a London hospital for the past two weeks. Yesterday, the 99-year-old Prince was transferred from the King Edward VII Hospital to St. Bartholomews.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who has been by the Queen’s side for over 70 years, is reportedly battling an infection and a pre-existing heart condition. Buckingham Palace has assured the public that his ill-health is unrelated to COVID-19 and that his hospitalization is merely a “precautionary measure.”
In other Royal news, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have attempted to put their recent controversies behind them after the announcement of a number of charitable projects that the Sussexes have invested in, such as a disaster relief center in Dominica.
However, it seems likely that controversy will reignite this Sunday (March 7) after the broadcast of their interview with Oprah.