The Queen is frail and sadly unable to continue with all her duties and appointments, several of which have had to be cancelled.
This is hardly surprising: at 95 she has been on the throne since 6 February 1952 – the longest reign in British history.
Queen Elizabeth has a real affection for Africa, which she has visited 23 times as monarch. Her reception has always been warm, and sometimes controversial.
When she danced with Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah in November 1961 caused a real stir. But she never made an official visit to South Africa during the apartheid era: only visiting it when Presidents Mandela and Mbeki were in office.

At other times she was welcomed African royalty: Emperor Haile Selassie came to see her in London in February 1965.

But many of her visits saw the Queen meeting ordinary men and women. In 1995 she did not just see Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, but this woman at the Baragwanath Hospital, who had just given birth.

Here is a list of all the Queen’s official visits during her reign
Date | Country | Event | Host |
6 Feb 1952 | Kenya | Governor Mitchell | |
28 January – 16 February 1956 | Nigeria | Governor Robertson | |
9–20 November 1961 | Ghana | President Nkrumah | |
25 November – 1 December 1961 | Sierra Leone | Governor Dorman | |
1–8 February 1965 | Ethiopia | Emperor Haile Selassie | |
8–12 February 1965 | Sudan | President al-Mahi | |
19–20 March 1972 | Seychelles | Governor Greatbatch | |
24–26 March 1972 | Mauritius | Governor Williams | |
19–22 July 1979 | Tanzania | President Nyerere | |
22–25 July 1979 | Malawi | President Banda | |
25–27 July 1979 | Botswana | President Khama | |
27 July – 4 August 1979 | Zambia | President Kaunda | |
25–27 October 1980 | Algeria | President Chadli | |
27–30 October 1980 | Morocco | King Hassan | |
10–14 November 1983 | Kenya | President Moi | |
7 October 1991 | Kenya | President Moi | |
8–10 October 1991 | Namibia | President Nujoma | |
10–15 October 1991 | Zimbabwe | CHOGM | President Mugabe |
19–25 March 1995 | South Africa | President Mandela | |
7–9 November 1999 | Ghana | President Rawlings | |
9–15 November 1999 | South Africa | CHOGM | President Mbeki |
15 November 1999 | Mozambique | President Chissano | |
21–24 November 2007 | Uganda | CHOGM | President Museveni |