Queen hides subtle ‘message for Ukraine’ in photo with Justin Trudeau
The Queen is thought to have shown her support for the people of Ukraine in a subtle way during her meeting with Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
In the photo, there is a vase behind Her Majesty containing blue and yellow flowers — the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
The Queen, who is required to take a neutral stance on political matters, also wore a blue patterned dress.
“When you look closely at the photographs, [you] see that even in the room where they met there was a reminder of the horrors happening in Ukraine,” Rhiannon Mills, Sky News’ royal correspondent noted.
“A bunch of yellow and blue flowers was a subtle display of solidarity, unspoken but still clear for us all to see.”
🇨🇦 This afternoon The Queen received the Prime Minister of Canada, @JustinTrudeau, for an Audience at Windsor Castle.
🔗 Find out more about Audiences - https://t.co/OY2cqSIHTv pic.twitter.com/1FsEiS7Ati— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 7, 2022
The Queen held an audience with Trudeau at Windsor Castle on Monday, marking her first in-person engagement since the monarch caught Covid last month.
Trudeau is visiting the UK along with Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, for talks with Boris Johnson about the war in Ukraine.
Following their meeting, Trudeau noted that the Queen was “very interested” in what was going on in Russia.
He said: “I can tell you in my conversation with her this morning she was as insightful and perspicacious as ever, very interested in what’s going on.”
Last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released a message in solidarity with Ukraine.
Posting their statement to social media on 26 February, it read: “In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President Zelenskyy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future.
“Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President Zelenskyy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future.
Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future 🇺🇦 W & C— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) February 26, 2022
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the first members of the royal family to release a statement on the war in Ukraine.
In a post to their Archewell site, they said: “Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same.”
