What Is Queen Elizabeth II Doing Now? Monarch Visits Whipsnade Zoo, Feeds Bananas To Elephants

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, about 30 miles northwest of London, on Tuesday and fed bananas to elephants.

The royal couple was visiting the zoo for the opening ceremony of the $2.5 million Centre for Elephant Care, which will house the zoo’s nine Asian elephants. The center is scheduled to open officially to the public on Wednesday.

During the ceremony, the queen also befriended a 7-year-old elephant named Donna. The couple fed bananas to Donna and as seen in the video, the elephant appeared delighted taking bananas from their hands. Donna is one of the nine Asian elephants that now live in the zoo and will be housed in the center that was officially inaugurated by the royals.

After being introduced to the queen, Donna the elephant stretched her trunk toward her and snatched the banana from her hand immediately. Donna then hopefully waved her trunk at Prince Philip, who then gave her the second banana.

The royals also met another elephant — a 10-month-old who was named after the queen because she was born the day before the queen’s 90th birthday last year.

The queen seemed happy with the services the zoo provided and the amount of care they took of the elephants.

"The elephants look very happy in there. It's a rather nice change for them, I suppose,” the queen told the zoo authorities.

David Field, zoological director at the Zoological Society of London, said: "They were both really interested in the bond between the elephants and the keepers.”

"The Queen talked about the bond between horses and people so she really understood that. She was absolutely delighted and went 'oh really?' when we told her the elephant calf was named after her,” he added, the Telegraph reported.

During the visit, the queen wore her quintessential royal outfit. She was seen in a lilac coat and dress, her pearls, and a matching hat with a huge cabbage rose decoration.

The queen and the Duke also visited Priory View in Dunstable, which is a new independent living scheme that has been set up for older residents.