Malala meets the Queen

Malala Yousufzai said that she would not ordinarily miss a day of lessons - but made an exception for her Buckingham Palace visit:

• Pictures: Malala meets the Queen at Buckingham Palace

Malala Yousufzai spoke to the Queen about the importance of education when they met at Buckingham Palace.

The teenager, accompanied by her father Ziauddin, gave the Queen a copy of her book, I Am Malala, during their meeting in the palace's White Drawing Room, telling her: "It is a great honour for me to be here, and I wanted to present you with this book."

Accepting the gift, the Queen replied: "That's very kind of you," before chatting with the teenager for a few moments.

She was reduced to laughter by a comment from the Duke, who quipped that in this country, people want children to go to school to get them out of the house. Malala covered her face while in a fit of giggles at his joke.

Malala Yousafzai is expected to meet the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace later today, adding another famous name on her global whistle stop tour to fight for young children to have the right to education.

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.

Malala narrowly missed out on winning the Nobel Peace Prize last week but has released an autobiography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban to much acclaim.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for the right to an education, is expected to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace later today.

Malala, 16, has reportedly impressed Queen Elizabeth with her bravery and will attend the Commonwealth Universities and Education Reception at Buckingham Palace later this morning.

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