Queen Elizabeth II is returning to work after an intense defeat in the royal family following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The 94-year-old reigning king took part in a Zoom call with experts and schoolchildren from Thomas Jones Primary School in West London to a virtual event in celebration of British Science Week, showing the latest photos from NASA’s mission to Mars and classroom rockets exhibited by the pupils. .
The queen reminded a group of school children studying space exploration of the importance of returning to Earth, while in a video call, she reminded the first man who undertook the journey – the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
The monarch, who invited Gargarin to Buckingham Palace shortly after his historic flight in 1961, was asked how the pioneer astronaut was, according to the call the palace announced Friday.
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In this undated photo released by Buckingham Palace on Friday 12 March 2021, British Queen Elizabeth II talks to experts and schoolchildren from Thomas Jones Primary School, West London, during a virtual event celebrating British Science Week, with the latest photos from NASA’s mission to Mars and classroom rockets made by the students.
(Buckingham Palace via AP)
“Russian,” she replied with a smile as her audience laughed. “He does not speak English. He was fascinating, and I think the first one was particularly fascinating. ‘
Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who presented the session, said it must have been scary to be the first man in space and not know what would happen.
“Well, yes, and if you could come back again,” replied the queen. “It’s very important.”
Wednesday’s call with students took place during a difficult week for the Queen, after the royal family was shocked by charges of racism and insensitivity directed at them by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
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But despite the controversy, the queen continued her work, just as she had done for decades. Scientists from the London Science Museum briefed her on NASA’s Mars Perseverance mission and discussed the discovery of fragments of a meteorite in England earlier this week.
This image provided by Harpo Productions shows Prince Harry from the left and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in conversation with Oprah Winfrey.
(Joe Pugliese / Harpo Productions via AP)
The group gave the queen a set of Perseverance Rover face masks, which were sent from NASA headquarters to Windsor Castle. Professor Caroline Smith of the Natural History Museum requested that one of the masks be given to Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, because of his long interest in science and space exploration.
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The prince (99) is recovering in a London hospital after undergoing heart surgery.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.