Malala meets the Queen at Buckingham Palace

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai has added the Queen to her celebrity rollcall during a visit to Buckingham Palace to promote the cause of global education.

The Queen praised Malala's "wonderful" campaigning work during a reception for commonwealth, youth and education which was jointly hosted by Prince Philip.

Malala, 16, survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in October last year after campaigning for the right of girls to go to school without fear. She was treated by surgeons in Birmingham, who said she came within inches of death when the bullet grazed her brain in the school bus attack.

Malala covered her face to hide a fit of giggles after Prince Philip told her: "There's a thing about children going to school - they go to school because the parents don't want them in the house."

Speaking to the Queen, she said of her invite to the palace: "It is not just an invitation, it is an honour for me, and I hope we all work together for the education of every child, and especially in this country as well. I have heard about many children who cannot go to school."

Malala gave the Queen a copy of her book, I Am Malala, and said she was passionate about the right to an education.

After meeting the Queen, Malala said that she would not ordinarily miss a day of lessons but made an exception in this case.

"I had to miss school because I was meeting the Queen," she said. "It's such an honour for me to be here at Buckingham Palace."

The schoolgirl has been on a global whistle-stop tour, meeting Bono, accepting a Pride of Britain award from David Beckham and chatting with the Obamas at the White House.

She urged Obama to stop using drone attacks and focus funds on educating Pakistani children instead.