The Queen has welcomed the Emir of Qatar to Windsor Castle ahead of the controversial World Cup to be hosted in the country later this year.

The monarch stood and shook hands with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani a day after using a golf buggy to tour the Chelsea Flower Show.

The Queen, whose Platinum Jubilee national celebrations are just over a week away, met with the Emir in her Oak Room sitting room.

Wearing a blue and green floral dress, the Queen, 96, smiled broadly as she greeted her guest.

The Queen has suffered from “episodic mobility problems” in recent months, Buckingham Palace said after she was forced to miss the State Opening of Parliament at the beginning of May for the first time in 59 years.

Before meeting Her Majesty on Tuesday, the Emir used a bilateral discussion with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to invite him to travel to Qatar to watch the World Cup this winter.

The tournament has been dogged by accusations of human rights abuses against migrant workers brought into the country to help build new stadiums for the tournament.

Queen must apologise for treatment of indigenous people in Canada, Prince Charles told

Prince Charles promises Canada ‘healing and understanding’ over schools scandal

Queen pictured smiling and laughing at Royal Windsor Horse Show – days after missing State Opening of Parliament

Qatar’s right to stage the major sporting event was publicly questioned at the FIFA Congress in Doha in March, with the president of the Norwegian federation saying there was “no room” for hosts who could not legally guarantee the safety of LGBTQI+ people.

Same-sex relationships are directly criminalised under the laws of the Gulf state, leading to concerns over the wellbeing of LGBTQI+ people visiting for the tournament and those from that community who reside there.

FIFA and the Supreme Committee insist supporters from the LGBTQI+ community will be made welcome.

Related posts:

‘I just want answers’: Richard Okorogheye’s mother ‘ripped apart’ by his death Women on pensions as low as £1 a week could be owed ‘lottery-winning’ sums in back payments ‘Devastated’ families mark scale of UK’s COVID deaths with huge memorial wall ‘We can’t rule anything out’: Minister on potential for restrictions in COVID hotspots Five teenagers appear in court over Newport murder Wales to ease COVID rules from Saturday – but face masks still needed indoors and on public transport Fuel prices continue to rise as cost of petrol reaches highest point since 2013 Recall on Tesco cough medicine which was incorrectly labelled Court of Appeal declines to increase jail sentence of man who choked lover to death during sex Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre settlement: What do we know and what happens next? Candy sweetens Chelsea bid as advisers decide on shortlist to buy club Boy, five, found dead in river suffered severe injuries ‘consistent with child abuse’, court hears