Queen ‘determined to get back to business’ with first royal engagement since pandemic

The Queen will be hosting US President Joe Biden at Buckingham Palace in her first major diplomatic engagement since she left the capital during the coronavirus pandemic.

Her Majesty, 94, says she is “determined to get back to business” after being prevented from carrying out her public duties during the last year of lockdowns and coronavirus restrictions.

The new US president and other world leaders will be visiting the UK as part of the G7 summit in Cornwall in June.

Prince Charles, Prince William and the duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge will be reportedly joining the Queen for the ‘soft power’ reception.

Reports say a one-on-one meeting with Biden and the monarch is also due to take place, her first diplomatic engagement following her planned return to Buckingham Palace.

A senior royal source told The Times: “There is a desire from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to have a very strong royal presence before G7 events, and all senior members of the royal family will be part of what happens.”

The Queen will be returning to the capital in time for her 95th birthday in June, the Sunday Times reports.

This will be the first major national celebration since the outbreak of the pandemic.

June 12 marks the Trooping the Colour military parade two days after the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.

This is set to be the first public reunion of the royal family since ‘Megxit’.

Her Majesty has isolated with her husband and a small staff in Windsor Castle since the first lockdown was called in March.

Since then The Queen has been mostly out of action and has been holding her weekly meeting with Boris Johnson over the phone rather than in person.

The Queen has however made two rare televised addresses to the nation during the lockdown.

She and Prince Phillip celebrated her actual birthday, April 21, in lockdown.

Last year the two of them celebrated their first Christmas at Windsor since 1987.