Dressed in a yellow ensemble, hat to match, the 96-year-old Queen appeared smiling, cane in hand, alongside her youngest son, Edward, during this visit to Paddington tube station in the West London.
The inauguration of the Elizabeth line, a new metro line which will link the eastern and western outskirts of the capital from May 24, is the first official trip by the Queen outside the Windsor region, where she lives, since the Mass in memory of her late husband Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey at the end of March.
Present, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “incredibly touched” by his presence.
Since she experienced health problems in the fall, which led to a night of hospitalization following examinations, the nature of which has never been specified, public appearances of the monarch are rare. She was to be represented by Edward on Tuesday and her presence is a “happy development”, welcomed a Buckingham Palace spokesperson.
Sunday evening, Elizabeth II had attended a horse show in Windsor, the first major event of her platinum jubilee celebrating her 70 years of reign. Two days earlier, she had gone to the same city to a prestigious equestrian competition, the Windsor Horse Show, in which several of her horses would compete.
These appearances by the sovereign, visibly in good shape, bring reassuring signs as to her participation in the jubilee celebrations in early June despite her mobility problems.
The Queen has canceled attendance at several major events in recent months including the opening of Parliament, which she missed for only the third time in her 70-year reign.
She was replaced there for the first time by Crown Prince Charles, 73, bringing a new sign of the transition underway for the British monarchy under the effect of his health problems.
