Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Great Wall during the state visit, in October 1986. [Photo/CFP]

Chinese links

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have both shown enormous interest in Chinese religion, especially Taoism, according to Martin Palmer, an adviser to Prince Philip, who has worked with the Taoists of China for over 20 years.

"I remember taking a group of Chinese for a meeting with the Queen and she was just very intrigued with how these different traditions: Taoism, less so Buddhism, and Confucianism, how did they work side by side? How is it that China has never had a religious war? "