Queen makes first public appearance since Philip returned to Windsor

The Queen has hailed the ‘wonderful’ work of the army of volunteers who stepped forward during the pandemic, telling them they have been a ‘great, great help over this difficult year’.

The 94-year-old monarch, who has been patron of the Royal Voluntary Service for almost 70 years, held a video call with the Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation’s president, and RVS volunteers on Tuesday.

Her Majesty, calling from Windsor Castle, appeared thrilled to see her daughter-in-law, starting the call with a cheery: ‘Ah good morning. Hello Camilla! ‘

The Duchess, speaking from her London base, Clarence House, replied: ‘Good morning, how are you? ‘ ‘Fine, thank you,’ replied the Queen. ‘Very nice to see you,’ Camilla said warmly.

The footage released today shows the first time the Queen has appeared since she was reunited with her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip on Tuesday at Windsor after he was released from King Edward VII’s Hospital in London after a 28-day stay in hospital.

It also comes as Buckingham Palace continues to deal with the fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7.

Harry and Meghan, who faced calls to postpone the interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone would be before he was born. 

Queen Elizabeth II is pictured during a video call to thank Royal Voluntary Service volunteers for their work earlier this week

The Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation's president, also took part in their video call from Clarence House in London

The Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation’s president, also took part in their video call from Clarence House in London 

(Top row, from left) Camilla, RVS chief executive Catherine Johnstone, RVS volunteer Sue Cadwallader, (middle row from left) NHS volunteer responders Anderson Akponeware and Simon Holmes, RVS volunteeru00A0Tracy Clarke and (bottom) the Queen

(Top row, from left) Camilla, RVS chief executive Catherine Johnstone, RVS volunteer Sue Cadwallader, (middle row from left) NHS volunteer responders Anderson Akponeware and Simon Holmes, RVS volunteer Tracy Clarke and (bottom) the Queen

Meghan also told of how she begged for help when she was suicidal, but said the institution gave her no support. 

The Queen, 94, said the issues were concerning, but that ‘some recollections may vary’ and the matter was a family one that would be dealt with privately.

Queen sends sympathies to Tanzanians after death of country’s president  

The Queen has conveyed her ‘deepest sympathy’ to the people of Tanzania following the recent death of the country’s president, John Magufuli.

In a short message posted on the official royal family Twitter account the Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were saddened to learn of his death.

The death of President Magufuli, aged 61 and a prominent Covid-19 sceptic in Africa, was announced on Wednesday by Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who said the president died of heart failure.

‘Our beloved president passed on at 6pm this evening,’ said Ms Suluhu on national television.

She said that Mr Magufuli died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the Indian Ocean port that is Tanzania’s largest city.

John Magufuli has died aged 61

John Magufuli has died aged 61

Although the vice president said the cause of Mr Magufuli’s death was heart failure, opposition politicians had earlier alleged that he was sick from Covid-19.

The Queen said in her message: ‘Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the death of President John Magufuli. I wish to convey my condolences to his loved ones and my deepest sympathy to the people of Tanzania.’

Ms Hassan has now been sworn in as Mr Magufuli’s successor as president.

As for the RVS scheme featured in the video released today, more than one million new volunteers have signed up to help since last March, bringing the total to a staggering 12.7million.

As RVS chief executive Catherine Johnstone introduced the Queen to four of them, the monarch, dressed in a blue floral dress, smiled broadly and said: ‘Thank you very much indeed. Very interesting to hear what you been doing. 

‘I think it’s wonderful work and I do thank everybody for, and all the others too, who have been volunteering. It’s been a great, great help, over this very difficult year. Very nice to meet you all.’

The call was organised to mark one year since the launch of the NHS Volunteer Responders to tackle the pandemic.

The Queen and Camilla listed intently as they were told about the 1.6million tasks carried out by NHS volunteer responders since the initial call to arms, including ‘Check in and Chat’ calls, delivering food and picking up prescriptions.

The scheme has been rolled out for the vaccination programme, they were told. 

RVS volunteer Sue Cadwallader from Northumberland said volunteering brought her close to her son Sam and gave her ‘direction’ and ‘purpose’ after retiring.

She said: ‘I love it, it’s so much fun. It’s meeting new people, it’s getting the community involved with each other… I’ve been supporting the health and wellness calls and supporting clients if they need anything at all, so if its prescriptions [or] they just want to chat, I phone them regularly once a week to see how they getting on and we had great fun. It’s always filled with laughter.

‘When you retire you think I’m going have a lot of time on my hands and it is going to be lovely. But I actually lost my way little bit and then I felt that I needed some direction. I’d had lots of direction. I was very busy and all of a sudden I wasn’t. It’s given me a purpose and I love doing it.’

NHS Volunteer Responder Anderson Akponeware, based in Middlesbrough, dedicated his spare time to supporting his community whilst juggling studying for his PhD and home-schooling.

He said: ‘When the call was made by the NHS and the RVS to support the vulnerable and those who were shielding, I didn’t think twice before signing up – so for close to a year now I’ve been a Check in and Chat volunteer.

‘People have been living in their own small bubbles, and I wouldn’t have known how isolated those small bubbles could be until I took on this role.’ 

The Queen asked: ‘You managed to find time between your studying and volunteering?’ Anderson described how he shared everything with his wife.

He added: ‘My wife and I try to think more about those in our community and all we can do to make their lives better.’ 

Simon Holmes, an NHS Volunteer Responder from Stockton-On-Tees, shared how accessing mental health services himself had encouraged him to sign-up to the RVS. 

One sad note came as it emerged that 86-year-old Doris Winfield who was befriended by the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the RVS 'check in and chat' scheme', had died in January. Camilla spent several hours over the past year speaking to Doris, on the phone and met her in person at a Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Club in Rickmansworth in October (pictured above)

One sad note came as it emerged that 86-year-old Doris Winfield who was befriended by the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the RVS ‘check in and chat’ scheme’, had died in January. Camilla spent several hours over the past year speaking to Doris, on the phone and met her in person at a Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Club in Rickmansworth in October (pictured above)

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks to a NHS volunteer responder steward during a visit to Wembley Vaccination Centre in North West London as part of her role as Royal Voluntary Service president, on February 23, 2021

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks to a NHS volunteer responder steward during a visit to Wembley Vaccination Centre in North West London as part of her role as Royal Voluntary Service president, on February 23, 2021

He said: ‘I decided I wanted to do something – if I could give back just in a little way.’ ‘The whole experience is very humbling.’

Camilla said: ‘Thank you all very much for all you’ve done throughout the year, throughout the pandemic. We couldn’t have done it without you.’

Retired police officer Tracy Clarke, from Gateshead, told the royals how she worked at the RVS Gateshead Home Library Service delivering books to isolated people.

The Queen replied: ‘Rather different work from the police I should think.’ She went on to say: ‘Yes and books are very important to people.’ 

The Duke of Edinburgh leaves King Edward VII's Hospital in London on Tuesday after 28 days in hospital

The Duke of Edinburgh leaves King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Tuesday after 28 days in hospital

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in conversation with Oprah Winfrey in their interview which first aired on CBS on March 7

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in conversation with Oprah Winfrey in their interview which first aired on CBS on March 7

One sad note came as it emerged that 86-year-old Doris Winfield who was befriended by the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the RVS ‘check in and chat’ scheme’, had died in January.

Camilla spent several hours over the past year speaking to Doris, on the phone and met her in person at a Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Club in Rickmansworth in October.

Ahead of the call this week, she recalled how she had enjoyed ‘lots of happy conversations’ with Doris.

On the video call, held over WebEX, Mrs Johnstone CBE, told the royals: ‘I couldn’t be prouder of the way in which Britain has stepped forward to volunteer.’