Queen Elizabeth II Smiles Through Personal Turmoil in Virtual Engagements

Despite private struggles, Queen Elizabeth II put on a brave face as she carried out a virtual engagement from Windsor Castle on Friday morning.

Her Majesty was seen beaming as she appeared via video link for an audience at Buckingham Palace.

This comes in the wake of yet another TV interview by her grandson Prince Harry, which is sure to have caused her personal anguish.

During the virtual meeting, the 95-year-old monarch warmly welcomed the new Singapore High Commissioner Lim Huan Kuan, who presented the letters of recall of his predecessor and his own letters of commission.

She also virtually met with the new Uganian ambassador, His Excellency Dr Cesar Rodriguez Zavala, who presented the letters of recall of his predecessor and his own letters of credence.

Dressed in a flattering pink pastel ensemble, Her Majesty smiled broadly as she spoke to the dignitaries over video.

The Queen's public appearances come just hours after Prince Harry's new Apple TV Plus series on mental health, called The Me You Can't See, dropped online.

In the series, the royal addressed traumatic memories from his childhood, including the death of his mother Princess Diana and harassment on social media towards him and his wife Meghan Markle.

Harry also spoke about feeling abandoned by his relatives and said that his family did not speak about Diana's passing.

In the series, Harry stated, “Certainly now I will never be bullied into silence.

I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is just got met with total silence, total neglect.

We spent four years trying to make it work.

We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job.

But Meghan was struggling.

With the feeling of being trapped within the family, there was no option to leave.

Eventually when I made that decision for my family, I was still told, you can't do this.

And it's like, well, how bad does it have to get until I'm allowed to do this?

She, Meghan, was going to end her life.

It shouldn't have got to that.”

The series comes just weeks after Harry appeared to suggest that his father, Prince Charles, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had failed as parents.

Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, the Duke said he wanted to break the cycle of genetic pain and suffering for the sake of his own children.

In the new series, Harry continued to talk about this with Oprah.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said, “There is now clearly a huge gulf between the Royal family and the Sussexes.

The Queen urged that the issues be dealt with privately as a family.

Meghan and Harry don't seem to be heeding that at all.”

The other problem is that when you're dealing with a couple who are erratic, you don't know what's coming.

Harry's biographer, Angela Levine, said Prince Charles was particularly hurt by Harry's repeated criticism of his parenting and Harry's claims he was made to suffer.

She said, “Harry seems to be stuck in this and some of the things he said about his father, for example, that he didn't have it very good as a child.

Therefore, Harry and William must have it too.

I find that extremely hard to believe because Prince Charles did his absolute best.

Maybe he wasn't the best parent, but I don't know how many people who are perfect parents.”

It is worth noting that the Apple TV series was released in full online just four hours after his brother Prince William issued an extraordinary attack on the BBC for ruining their mother Princess Diana's life after her Panorama interview with rogue reporter Martin Bashir in 1995.

Despite a judge-led inquiry finally confirming their mother was deceived into doing a show, her friends say it began a chain of events leading directly to her passing in Paris less than two years later.

In conclusion, the Queen's virtual engagements show that she is putting on a brave face despite the personal turmoil caused by her grandson's TV interview.

The interview has caused a rift between the Royal family and the Sussexes, with Prince Harry's repeated criticism of his father's parenting causing particular hurt.

Despite the Queen's urge for the issues to be dealt with privately as a family, it seems that Meghan and Harry are not heeding her advice.