Queen pictured driving estate car in Windsor as her rest period continues

The Queen has been pictured driving close to Windsor Castle after being instructed by doctors to only undertake “desk-based duties” for two weeks.

The 95-year-old monarch is driving a green estate car in pictures published by a number of news outlets.

The images are said to have been captured on Monday morning and show the Queen driving alone on the Windsor estate in Berkshire, wearing a signature headscarf and a pair of sunglasses.

The Queen had planned to be in Glasgow for the Cop26 summit but was advised by doctors to rest.

The advice came after the Queen underwent tests in hospital and cancelled a two-day trip to Northern Ireland.

Despite ruling out attendance at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 14, Buckingham Palace said the head of state has the “firm intention” of leading the nation in honouring the country’s war dead on Remembrance Sunday the next day.

In a statement on Friday, the palace said: “Following on from their recent advice that the Queen should rest for a few days, Her Majesty’s doctors have advised that she should continue to rest for at least the next two weeks.

“The doctors have advised that Her Majesty can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time, including some virtual audiences, but not to undertake any official visits.

“Her Majesty regrets that this means she will be unable to attend the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday November 13.

“However, it remains The Queen’s firm intention to be present for the National Service of Remembrance on Remembrance Sunday, on November 14.”

There will be concern for the Queen given her advanced years, but medics see the period of rest as a sensible precaution.

She is said to be in good spirits and recorded her Cop26 speech on Friday afternoon.

Boris Johnson has said the public must “respect” the Queen’s need to relinquish some duties for a short period and offered an insight into her current outlook following their regular briefing.

The Prime Minister, speaking at the weekend to ITV News in Rome, where he travelled for the G20, said: “I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form.

“She has been told by her doctors that she has got to rest and I think we have got to respect that and understand that and everybody wishes her all the very best.”

The Queen appeared cheerful and in good humour when she hosted a virtual presentation ceremony on Thursday, awarding the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2020 to poet David Constantine.

It was announced on October 20 that the Queen had “reluctantly” accepted medical advice to rest and cancelled her trip to Northern Ireland that was scheduled to begin that day.

But it later emerged she had stayed overnight in hospital when The Sun newspaper reported the monarch had been admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London on Wednesday.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the head of state had undergone “preliminary investigations” during her first overnight stay at a medical facility in eight years.