Queen meets Ukraine’s first lady at Clarence House

29 Feb 2024 • 6:51 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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The Queen has met Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska at Clarence House.

Camilla welcomed the wife of the Ukrainian president to her London residence on Thursday morning.

They were pictured in conversation as they sat in the Garden Room, with their meeting coming just days after the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The pair met previously in November 2022 at a Buckingham Palace reception to raise awareness of violence against women.

Ms Zelenska was also a guest at the King and Queen’s coronation last May, representing her war-torn nation with its prime minister Denys Shmyhal.

The King, who is receiving ongoing treatment for cancer, was not present on Thursday.

Camilla has been dubbed the monarchy’s “saviour” and praised for keeping “the show on the road” in the King’s absence, and while the Princess of Wales is recovering from abdominal surgery.

She led the royal family at the memorial service for King Constantine of Greece earlier this week, with the Prince of Wales also absent at the last minute due to an unexplained personal matter.