The Queen has returned to royal duties less then a week after Prince Philip's death

• The Queen has returned to work just days after her husband Prince Philip died on Friday.
• The monarch spoke with the prime minister and hosted a retirement ceremony.
• The royals don't usually undertake duties during mourning periods.

Queen Elizabeth II has returned to work during the royal family's official mourning period, where all royal duties are expected to cease.

The Queen, 94, requested that the family observe two weeks of royal mourning after Prince Philip died on Friday, April 9, according to a Buckingham Palace press release detailing the duke's funeral arrangements obtained by Insider.

Her Majesty and other members of the family are not expected to undertake official duties during this time.

Nonetheless, the Queen has undertaken some duties in the days following her husband's death, as reported on the court circular on the royal family website.

The court circularis an official record of the Queen and other senior royal family members' daily engagements.

The monarch had a phone call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday morning, the day after Philip died.

The Queen traditionally holds an audience with the prime minister every week, and this is something that she has continued to do via telephone since the beginning of the UK's first lockdown last year.

On Tuesday the Queen undertook another engagement - a retirement ceremony for the former Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel, the most senior officer at the royal household who stepped back from his role at the beginning of April.

"The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia of Office as Lord Chamberlain and the Badge of Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order and took leave upon relinquishing his appointment as Lord Chamberlain, when Her Majesty invested him with the Royal Victorian Chain," the court circular reads.

Princess Anne also undertook her first royal duty since her father died. The royal, who is patron of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, attended the spring conference via video link on Tuesday, the court circular reports.

Buckingham Palace did not comment on the Queen's future royal engagements when contacted by Insider.

A royal official told Hello! Magazine that while the royal family is still observing the two-week mourning period, they would "continue to undertake engagements appropriate to the circumstances."

A former senior aide says the monarch is adhering to Philip's wishes by continuing with her duties.

"Her family will step up and be by her side, but she will carry on. She understands that she has a job to do, and [Philip] would have wanted her to crack on. She did do so when he retired from public life," the aide, who remained anonymous, told People magazine.

The Duke of Edinburgh stepped back from royal duties in 2017, leaving Her Majesty to undertake engagements alone or with other senior members of the royal family.