Queen faces public without mask in first engagement since getting second COVID-19 jab

Queen Elizabeth II faced the public without a face mask in her first public appearance of the year, reportedly soon after receiving her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The British monarch was all smiles on Wednesday as she arrived at the CWGC Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede, Surrey, a short drive from her Windsor Castle residence, to mark the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force. The memorial, opened by the Queen on October 17, 1953, "commemorates more than 20,000 Commonwealth airmen and women who died during operations in north and west Europe and have no known grave." More than 1,300 of those commemorated at Runnymede served with the Australian Air Force.

For the socially-distanced ceremony at the memorial, the Queen wore a light green coat, and a matching wide-brimmed hat adorned with yellow flowers. The 94-year-old accessorised her look with her signature gloves and Launer handbag, and the Australian wattle brooch, representing the national flower of Australia.

The service began with a flypast by the Red Arrows but with white smoke only instead of the familiar red, white, and blue, following which prayers were said for the Australian Air Force personnel who lost their lives in service of their country. A wreath was laid by the Queen's Equerry Major Tom on her behalf, bearing a note that read, "in memory of the glorious dead, Elizabeth R."

The monarch also viewed panels bearing the names of Australian war dead and a display of fallen airmen and women in the memorial cloister. She then interacted with the serving personnel, telling one member of the Australian Air Force who had recently been posted to the UK: "It's rather bad luck to have arrived in lockdown isn't it? I hope in the next couple of years you'll be able to travel a bit more." She concluded her visit by signing a commemorative document.

According to a report in Mail Online, she wrote in a foreword to the order of Service: "As one of the oldest Air Forces in the world, it is fitting to pay tribute to the efficiency, skill and sacrifice of the men and women who have served in its ranks, in Australia and overseas, during the past one hundred years."

The event was the first time the Queen was seen since her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, where they levelled a number of serious allegations against Buckingham Palace. The visit also comes just days after the monarch got fully vaccinated for novel coronavirus, after receiving her first jab in January this year, reports The Sun.

"Given the Queen has decided to make a public appearance so close to 12 weeks after the announcement of receiving her first vaccine it is clear she has already had her second. Aides won't have wanted to put her at any risk. It is obviously much more reassuring to know that anyone who has received two doses of the vaccine is so well protected — even aged 94," a source told the outlet.