Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles Team Up for Her First Public Duty in Two Months

Between royal tours or at home during official visits, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles have planted hundreds of trees.

But Friday at the Balmoral estate in Scotland, a special planting took place as the Queen, 95, and Charles, 72, marked the start of the official planting season in the U.K. by laying down new roots for a copper beech tree heralding the Queen's upcoming Platinum Jubilee.

It was the first time in almost two months that the Queen has been seen undertaking an official duty. Since then she has been spending her summer break at Balmoral Castle, often surrounded by close family and friends.

The tree planting on Friday was part of the Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) — a U.K.-wide Platinum Jubilee initiative that will create a lasting legacy in tribute to the Queen's 70 years of service to the nation. Organizers are calling on people around the country to "Plant a Tree for the Jubilee. The Queen and her son and heir were joined by students from nearby Crathie Primary School.

The planting came as schools, community groups, families and individuals were starting or planning their own tree-planting projects across the country. The planting season takes place from October to March, a time in which they are most likely to thrive and flourish.

Before they planted the tree, the Queen and Charles joined the children as they took part in an outdoor forest school session in the grounds of the cricket pavilion. The young pupils were doing a variety of outdoor activities as part of their QGC Junior Forester Award, offered by the Royal Forestry Society and the Scottish Forestry Society, to deepen schoolchildren's knowledge of the benefit of trees to the environment.

A photograph of the tree-planting moment will be added to the QGC's interactive map, which will create a digital record of the green canopy of tree planting projects across the country.

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Last week, at the Chelsea Flower Show the Queen's Green Canopy Garden was unveiled with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by project ambassador Dame Judi Dench. The Canopy was created to highlight the importance of trees, woodlands, grasslands and meadows as vital wildlife habitat across the nation.

Talking on the day, the Oscar winner marveled at the Queen's record-breaking reign, noting "how fantastic that she is going to have been on the throne for 70 years — that's never ever happened."

The Queen and Charles had already started the campaign when they planted a Verdun Oak in the grounds of Windsor Great Park earlier this year.