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 1952KenyaGovernor Mitchell
28 January – 16 February 1956NigeriaGovernor Robertson
9–20 November 1961GhanaPresident Nkrumah
25 November – 1 December 1961Sierra LeoneGovernor Dorman
1–8 February 1965EthiopiaEmperor Haile Selassie
8–12 February 1965SudanPresident al-Mahi
19–20 March 1972SeychellesGovernor Greatbatch
24–26 March 1972MauritiusGovernor Williams
19–22 July 1979TanzaniaPresident Nyerere
22–25 July 1979MalawiPresident Banda
25–27 July 1979BotswanaPresident Khama
27 July – 4 August 1979ZambiaPresident Kaunda
25–27 October 1980AlgeriaPresident Chadli
27–30 October 1980MoroccoKing Hassan
10–14 November 1983KenyaPresident Moi
7 October 1991KenyaPresident Moi
8–10 October 1991NamibiaPresident Nujoma
10–15 October 1991ZimbabweCHOGMPresident Mugabe
19–25 March 1995South AfricaPresident Mandela
7–9 November 1999GhanaPresident Rawlings
9–15 November 1999South AfricaCHOGMPresident Mbeki
15 November 1999MozambiquePresident Chissano
21–24 November 2007UgandaCHOGMPresident Museveni
CHOGM – Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting