Out and about! Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William visited the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory on Thursday, October 15, marking their public royal engagement since March.
The monarch, 94, and the Duke of Cambridge, 38, headed to Salisbury to tour the Energetics Enclosure to learn about weaponry and tactics used in counterintelligence. They also visited the facility’s Energetics Analysis Centre and viewed a demonstration of a Forensic Explosives Investigation.
“Her Majesty and His Royal Highness also spoke to scientists providing vital support to the U.K. response of the COVID-19 pandemic, working in analytic research areas and deploying microbiologists to NHS hospitals to increase testing capacities,” the queen’s Instagram account captioned photos of her smiling in a Stewart Parvin cashmere coat.
She and the other royal family members have been quarantining since March amid the coronavirus pandemic, choosing to participate in virtual royal engagements instead.
That same month, the queen vowed that her family would “play their part” amid the COVID-19 spread. “I am certain we are up to that challenge,” she said in a March statement. She went on to celebrate her birthday in June with a smaller ceremony and traveled to Scotland via private plane two months later for her and Prince Philip‘s annual stay at Balmoral Castle.
William, his wife, Duchess Kate, and their three children — Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2 — switched things up last month when they met with nature historian Sir David Attenborough in Kensington Palace’s gardens.
“The Duke and Sir David attended an outdoor screening of Sir David’s upcoming feature film David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” the family’s Instagram account explained in a September statement. “With a shared passion for protecting the natural world, they continue to support one another in their missions to tackle some of the biggest environmental challenges our planet faces. This includes working together on the @EarthshotPrize the most prestigious global environment prize in history – further details of which will be shared in the coming weeks.”
Attenborough, 94, gifted George an ancient shark tooth during the visit. The little one and his siblings went on to ask the broadcaster questions in an October video, from whether he likes spiders to which animal he thinks will become extinct next.
Keep scrolling to see Elizabeth and William’s lab visit on Thursday.