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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Laura Elston

Queen on royal duty inside Windsor as UK records ‘highest-ever’ temperature

PA Wire

The Queen carried on with her royal duties during the heatwave despite the UK facing its hottest day on record.

The monarch, 96, welcomed the new US ambassador Jane Hartley from the safety of inside Windsor Castle during the virtual audience on Tuesday.

The Queen, in residence at Windsor Castle, appears on a screen via videolink, during a virtual audience to receive the US Ambassador, Jane Hartley (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

As the country sweltered in the extreme temperatures which exceeded 40C for the first time, the nation’s longest reigning monarch wore a floral summer dress as she chatted on screen with the American diplomat, who presented her credentials at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen, who was seated in her Oak Room sitting room at Windsor, has in the past been pictured with a Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link purifier fan at the Palace, and is also likely to also have one at her Berkshire castle.

The Queen – with her Dyson fan in the background – with Boris Johnson in 2019 (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

Angela Kelly, the monarch’s senior dresser, has told how she opts for “light, dynamic fabrics that move and flow with the breeze” for the Queen in the summer and “strong florals with vibrant colours”.

“In warmer weather, I typically design with a more open neckline,” she wrote in her book The Other Side of the Coin.

When dressing casually, the Queen often wears silk blouses or cotton shirts, and a skirt.

Royal servants will also be helping to keep the Queen’s dogs cool – her elderly dorgi Candy and two corgi puppies Muick and Sandy.

The Queen during a visit to officially open the new building at Thames Hospice, Maidenhead, Berkshire on Friday (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

The Queen, who is facing ongoing mobility issues and is less than four years away from her 100th birthday, has increasingly turned to virtual engagements in recent times during and since the pandemic.

But she was out and about last Friday when she made a rare public appearance away from Windsor Castle to formally open the new £22m Thames Hospice building in nearby Maidenhead.

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