Prince Philip tragically passed away in April at age 99, making him the longest-serving and oldest-ever consort. It was presumed after the Duke of Edinburgh's passing the Queen would pass on her roles to Prince Charles.

       Royal expert Duncan Larcombe disputes these presumptions and states while the monarch has been seen with a walking stick, she is “no Queen Victoria”.

       “When Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria became a recluse,” he told OK! magazine.

       “She wore black every time she went out and spent the remainder of her reign trying to build memorials to her late husband rather than appear in public.

       “The Queen has sent us a signal since she's got back from Balmoral and that signal is 'I'm no Queen Victoria', and maybe the stick plays into that.”

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       The 95-year-old monarch was seen using a walking stick assisting her when attending a service marking the centenary of the Royal British Legion.

       The Queen also did not enter the abbey by her traditional route and chose to follow a shorter walk.

       “We've seen The Queen come back from Balmoral and the only visible sign that she might be slowing down a bit is the walking stick.

       “For many years, people speculated that when Philip were to pass on, the Queen would slow down, prepare for passing on to Charles and scale back what she did.

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       “I don't think the walking stick's a sign the end is nigh because you just have to look at what she's got in her diary and all that she's done in the past couple of weeks.

       “Next month she'll be involved in COP26 and all eyes will be on Scotland and The Queen will play centre stage.

       “That's a statement of intent from her and, yes, she's using a walking stick to support her but I think most people will wonder why she hasn't been doing that for 20 years given how busy she is and how much time she spends on her feet.“

       The Queen has many upcoming engagements including the COP26 summit next month in Glasgow where she will be joined by Prince Charles and Prince William.

       Before that the Queen is expected to give a reception at Windsor Castle to mark the Global Investment Summit.