Queen heads back to Windsor after break as details of Thanksgiving Service for Philip announced

The Queen has returned to Windsor after a break in Norfolk to mark the start of her Platinum Jubilee year, as details were confirmed to hold a Thanksgiving Service for the Duke of Edinburgh in March.

The service is currently planned for 29 March at Westminster Abbey and it’s understood the Queen hopes to attend.

Last year it was announced that Her Majesty had agreed to a Thanksgiving event for her late husband who died in April 2021.

Due to COVID-19, the funeral for Prince Philip was only attended by his family.

It’s expected that family, friends, dignitaries, and representatives of the many charities and organisations with which he was associated will be invited.

It is one of a number of events we understand that the Queen is hoping to attend in March, a sign that she has no intention of slowing down as she heads into her Platinum Jubilee year.

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This morning she returned to Windsor Castle from Sandringham where she spent Accession Day, the day her father died and she became Queen, and this year marked the start of her Platinum Jubilee.

The Diplomatic Reception at Windsor Castle on the 2 March is also in the diary, along with the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on the 14 March.

Palace officials are remaining cautious, however, saying final confirmation of her attendance will come nearer the time.

Now that she is back at Windsor her weekly diary of audiences, overseeing the handover of ambassadorial posts, and privy council meetings are also expected to resume, both in person and through video calls, which she has embraced throughout the pandemic.

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Last year several of the Queen’s engagements had to be cancelled after she spent a night in hospital and doctors told her to rest, although she continued with light duties.

Over the weekend, the Queen was seen chatting and laughing with friends and representatives from local charities in the ballroom at Sandringham House to mark the start of her Platinum Jubilee.

A camera was also invited in to film her working last week as she looked through her red box of papers with her private secretary Sir Edward Young.

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The rare footage can be seen as a subtle but deliberate reminder that she continues to keep working and serving her country and the commonwealth even as she heads towards her 96th birthday in April.

She signed her Accession Day message “Your Servant Elizabeth R”, as she wrote: “It gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service”.

Her Majesty also unexpectedly used the message to publicly confirm her wish that the Prince of Wales should be King, and Camilla made queen consort when that time comes.

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