Queen, 93, attends longtime pal Sir Jackie Stewart’s 80th birthday lunch

The Queen stepped out to celebrate close friend Sir Jackie Stewart’s 80th birthday today. 

The monarch, 93, who has known the Formula One great for decades, joined family and friends for a celebratory lunch in the Louis XIV-style restaurant at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall this afternoon. 

Typically dapper in a suit and tie, Sir Jackie was seen escorting Her Majesty to her car following the meal. 

Gentleman: Sir Jackie followed royal protocol by walking slightly behind the Queen as she made her way to her car following lunch at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, pictured

The pair chatted happily on the short walk across the pavement as excited passersby snapped photos on their phones.

Former F1 racing driver Sir Jackie firmly established himself in the royal fold from a young age.

He enlisted Princess Anne to write the foreword for his biography and his wife Helen, who is now battling dementia, is godmother to Zara Tindall, the Queen’s granddaughter.

Royal fanfare: Sir Jackie and the Queen chatted happily on the short walk across the pavement as excited passersby snapped photos on their phones, pictured

His relationship with the family has continued to flourish over the years and he recently described the Queen as the most ‘extraordinary woman he knows’. 

In January Sir Jackie was invited to stay with the Queen at Sandringham, in Norfolk, and was seen out on shoots with the family. 

So it is of little surprise the monarch was eager to turn up to mark her friend’s milestone birthday. 

The Queen is likely to have dined alongside a wide range of lunch guests, with Stewart’s counting both blue-blooded gentry and his former racing mechanics among his social circle. 

Royal visits: Former F1 racing driver Sir Jackie firmly established himself in the royal fold from a young age and remains close to the Queen. Pictured, the British sportsman, left, joined the Queen, right, for church during a visit to the Sandringham estate, Norfolk, in January this year

The monarch looked elegant for the occasion, plumping for a pale lilac blue skirt suit, which she accessorised with black low heels and her trusty black handbag. 

Nicknamed the ‘Flying Scot’, Sir Jackie competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers’ Championships, and twice finishing as runner-up over those nine seasons. 

He married his wife Helen, a noted beauty of the Swinging Sixties, in 1962, and the couple are now grandparents of nine – eight boys and one girl. 

The couple own Clayton House, in Buckinghamshire, but spend much of their time in Switzerland, where Lady Stewart is receiving treatment for dementia. 

Lifelong love: Nicknamed the ‘Flying Scot’, Sir Jackie competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers’ Championships, and twice finishing as runner-up over those nine seasons. Pictured, with wife Helen in 1969, seven years after they married