The Queen has shown Prince Philip is still supporting her wherever she goes, as she has taken to using her late husband’s favourite walking stick.
Her Majesty has used the trusty aide in recent months owing to a bad back causing her pain.
Her choice of stick, which has a curved handle carved from iron, was used several times by the Duke of Edinburgh over the years.
It is usually kept in a pot by the front door of the farmhouse of the Sandringham Estate - where the Duke spent his retirement.
And during a stay at Wood Farm, Her Majesty, 95, borrowed it to help get to events.
On Saturday the Queen was seen using it during a reception at Sandringham House by local groups where she was presented with a cake to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
She joked: “I think I might just put a knife in it, see if it works. Somebody else can do the rest of it.”
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth told the Telegraph : “I recognised the stick instantly as it was always kept in a pot by the front door.
“It was the Duke’s stick, and it is very touching that the Queen has started using it.”
Prince Philip was last pictured using the same walking stick during a visit to a nearby nature reserve after abdominal surgery in 2013 to get around the muddy bog.
The Queen was seen using a walking stick for the first time in 17 years in October 2021 during a service to mark the centenary of the Royal British Legion at Westminster Abbey.
Before that it is believed the last time was in 2003 aged 76 after surgery to remove torn cartilage from her right knee.
After her stay at Sandringham, the Queen will attend several high profile engagements in March.
The monarch is expected to be seen in public with the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the first time in months at the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey on March 14.
Large numbers of the royal family will attend a thanksgiving service on March 29 to Prince Philip, alongside the duke's friends, colleagues and representatives of organisations he supported.
Last weekend The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations began with a bang, as gun salutes were fired across the country to mark her 70-year reign.
