The Queen has been seen standing and smiling at Windsor Castle after missing the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph.

The Queen held a face-to-face audience with General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff, as he prepares to step down from his role as the armed forces chief at the end of the month.

The monarch, 95, has been forced to cancel a series of official engagements over the last two months, most recently pulling out of the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph due to a sprained back.

She was pictured smiling as she met General Sir Nick in the castle’s Oak Room.

Dressed in a green, orange and white floral dress and wearing a string of pearls, the monarch, who is head of the Armed Forces, shook hands with General Sir Nick as they began chatting.

Doctors previously advised her to rest for an unrelated health matter, leading to the cancellation of a planned appearance at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday 13 November.

It came after the Queen had an overnight stay at the King Edward VII Hospital in central London on 20 October – her first in eight years.

Advisors cancelled a planned two-day trip to Northern Ireland the same day, and later cancelled the Queen’s trip to Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit.