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Queen Elizabeth wears face mask in public for ceremony to mark centenary of burial of Unknown Warrior

Pan PylasAP
: Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony in Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior.
Camera Icon: Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony in Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior. Credit: WPA Pool/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth has donned a face mask in public for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic when attending a brief ceremony at Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior.

While the 94-year-old has been seen in public on several occasions over the past few months, she had not been pictured wearing a face covering until now.

On Wednesday, during her first public engagement in London since March, she wore a black mask that was edged with white. Pictures of the ceremony were officially released late on Saturday.

The brief service was attended by just the dean and the Queen’s equerry, Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah.

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The Queen left a bouquet of orchids and myrtle, based on her own wedding bouquet from November 1947. She bowed her head after a prayer from the dean.

She had requested a ceremony take place as the pandemic had derailed plans for the centenary of the interment of the Unknown Warrior.

The grave is the final resting place of an unidentified British soldier who died during World War I. His body was brought back from Northern France and buried at Westminster Abbey on November 11, 1920.

The ceremony took place a day before a four-week lockdown came into force in England.

As well as forcing the closure of an array of businesses, places of worship are having to operate within limits.

Before the UK was put into full lockdown on March 23, the Queen and her 99-year- old husband, Prince Philip, moved to Windsor Castle, about 40km west of London.

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