Queen Elizabeth visited the top secret Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, in Porton Down, southwest England, with grandson Prince William. Photo: ReutersThe Queen has carried out her first major engagement since a coronavirus lockdown in March, visiting the Porton Down military research facility which was involved in dealing with a 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack. Britain has accused two Russian agents backed by Moscow of carrying out the attack, a charge the Kremlin has rejected. The formal purpose of the trip was to open the lab's new Energetics Analysis Centre, where the queen and the prince were given a demonstration of a forensic explosives investigation. She has also paid private visits to Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham in eastern England, her private residences.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 15, 2020 16:18 UTC