OUT OF MA'AM'S WAY
Queen steps out for first royal engagement in 7 months as she and Prince William shun masks to greets Novichok heroes
THE Queen today stepped out for her first royal engagement in seven months as she met with the Salisbury Novichok poisoning heroes.
The 94-year-old monarch was joined by her grandson Prince William, 38, for the trip to Wiltshire and while the pair maintained strict social distancing, neither wore a mask.
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The royals went without a covering on the advice of the medical household and all 48 staff who came near the pair were tested for Covid-19 before the visit could take place.
The Queen - who arrived by helicopter and wore a cheerful pink outfit - met with staff who were involved in the painstaking investigation and the clear up of the attack.
Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were left fighting for their lives in March 2018 with Salisbury put on lockdown as authorities desperately tried to discover the dangerous substance used to poison them.
It is the first engagement outside a royal palace for the Queen since the Commonwealth Ceremony at Westminster Abbey on March 9 with the UK put into lockdown in a desperate attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Her visit to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) at Porton Down comes as it was announced London would go into Tier 2 restrictions on Friday midnight as part of the fight against the deadly bug.
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The Queen, who wore a Stewart Parvin old rose cashmere coat and silk dress of autumnal woodland florals with a matching hat by Rachel Trevor Morgan, appeared in good spirits as she toured the site.
She and Prince William grinned as they met explosives detection dog Max after being shown a model explosive device in a vehicle.
The Queen, who is a keen lover of dogs, then quizzed Max's handler: "Is he more interested in the explosives or the ball?”
The handler replied: “Always the ball!”
Her Maj then officially opened the £35million Energetics Analysis Centre at the high-security lab.
They tweeted today: "We’re delighted to have received the Royal seal of approval for Dstl’s science inside defence and security, with Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visiting our site near Salisbury this morning."
After unveiling the plaque to commemorate the opening, she quizzed "What are you going to do with it?” - with Chief executive Gary Aitkenhead saying they would "display it with pride" in the lobby as a reminder of a great day.
During the visit, the Queen also signed the guest book - quipping "Well, it proves we’ve been here, doesn’t it."
The Queen and Wills did not wear face masks on the advice of the medical household and relevant parties but all necessary precautions were taken working closely with the Dstl, a palace spokesman said.
Her Majesty spoke to scientists who are finding ways to beat the Covid-19 pandemic by deploying microbiologists to NHS hospitals to increase testing capacities.
The Queen and Prince William, who is second-in-line to the throne, were then given a private tour of the Energetics Enclosure where they were shown a display of weaponry and tactics used in counter intelligence.
What happened in the Salisbury poisonings
Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 69, and daughter Yulia Skripal, 36, were poisoned in a Novichok attack in March 2018.
The deadly poison was sprayed on their door handle and they collapsed on a park bench several hours later.
Remarkably the pair survived the assassination attempt.
Cop Det Sgt Nick Bailey was also rushed to hospital after he was infected in a search of their home.
Three-and-a-half months later Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she and boyfriend Charlie Rowley, 46, unwittingly found the deadly nerve agent in a bottle of perfume.
Russian GRU agents Anatoliy Chepiga, 41, and Alexander Mishkin, 41, were later named as the suspected assassins.
William then awarded the Firmin Sword of Peace, presented to armed forces that improve community relations, to 102 Logistic Brigade for their work cleaning up the Novichok attack on Salisbury two years ago.
The royal engagement comes as the Queen returned to Windsor Castle earlier this month and is starting back to work at Buckingham Palace.
Palace chiefs installed a ring of steel around the monarch since March dubbed 'HMS Bubble'.
Teams of 24 key aides have worked three weeks on and three weeks off to keep the monarch safe from Covid-19.
Although the Queen has held private engagements inside Windsor Castle during the pandemic and spent a month on holiday at Balmoral this was the first time she has been on an engagement outside a palace since March 9.
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The £35million Energetics Analysis Centre at Porton Down, Wiltshire, was completed in June last year.
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It provides the UK with a world-class science and engineering facility to defend the nation from explosive materials.
The 7,283m2 T-shaped building is arranged over three levels, with two floors of state-of-the-art chemical laboratories, workshops, offices, meeting rooms and welfare facilities.
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Salisbury police officer Nick Bailey who was poisoned in novichok attack speaks for the first time
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