Queen gives 'generous donation' to Ukraine war victims as Covid recovery continues

3 March 2022, 20:48

The Queen has been thanked for giving a "generous donation" to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)'s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

The DEC, a group of 15 UK charities, showed their appreciation for the donation in a post on their social media account.

The group launched its appeal on Thursday to provide emergency relief to the victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In the post, they thanked The Queen for her continued "support", and went on to thank her for a "generous donation" to the appeal.

The palace has declined to comment the amount of the donation.

It is estimated that over 1m people have fled Ukraine in an attempt to escape the conflict, as Russian forces have intensified their attacks on major cities.

The donation comes as the Queen continues her recovery from Covid, and held online welcome events for two new High Commissioners to the UK.

The events held via video link are The Queens's second virtual audience of the week after Buckingham Palace revealed she had tested positive for Covid-19.

She spoke to two diplomats in Buckingham Palace from her Windsor Castle residence.

Vishnu Dhanpaul, who was joined by his wife, presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Commission as High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago.

The second ceremony saw Thomas Bisika, also joined by his wife, received by the Queen as he formally took up his post as Malawi's High Commissioner.

Read More: Queen enjoys time with family after recovering from Covid

Royal virtual events have been taking place for almost two years with the first in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic began to worsen.

On Tuesday, the Prince of Wales said the Queen was "a lot better now" after she tested positive for Covid-19 on February 20.

She was said to be experiencing "mild cold-like symptoms" according to Buckingham Palace. A number of virtual events were then cancelled last week.

But, within a week, the head of state had returned to a limited number of virtual audiences with ambassadors for the first time since her Covid diagnosis.

The Queen is thought to be triple vaccinated, and now is regularly pictured with a walking stick.

She had recently returned to normal duties following a health scare in the autumn of 2020. But she later contracted the virus which put a brief halt to her royal duties.

Last year, she withdrew her attendance from the Cop26 climate change summit, the Festival of Remembrance and later the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph for health reasons.

She also missed the Church of England's General Synod.

Read More: Queen cancels planned virtual engagements due to Covid symptoms, Palace says

Alongside her virtual events, the Queen has been carrying out light duties during her recovery, which sees her working from red boxes containing State papers which have to be read and, where necessary, approved and signed.

The 95-year-old monarch is currently celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the country.

The Queen has a number of events coming up, including the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14, and then the Duke of Edinburgh's memorial service on March 29.

She is expected to attend both occasions.