Story highlights
- Malala Yousafzai chats with Queen Elizabeth II at a Buckingham Palace reception
- The teenage education campaigner released her memoir last week and won an award
- Malala met President Barack Obama a week ago at the White House
- She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament
Pakistani girls' education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who has found international fame since being shot by Taliban militants last year, met with another icon Friday: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, invited the young activist to a reception at Buckingham Palace, where they met and chatted for a short time.
Malala, who was accompanied by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, presented the Queen with a copy of her newly published memoir, titled "I am Malala."
"It's nice to meet you and it's a great honor coming here, and I wanted to present you my book," Malala said.
Queen Elizabeth responded, "That's very kind of you. Thank you very much indeed."
Malala said she hoped the two could work together to make sure all children receive an education, not just in Pakistan, but in the United Kingdom, too.
"I hope that we will all work together for the education of every child, and especially in this country as well, because I have heard about many children that cannot go to school," she said. "So I hope that we will continue our work on youth empowerment."
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai poses on stage in Birmingham, England, after she was announced as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 10, 2014. Two years earlier, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage.
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Malala and her family visit the United Nations headquarters in New York before meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August.
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Malala speaks during the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey in London. Malala has lived in Britain since the Taliban attack.
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Malala speaks at a youth empowerment event at London's Wembley Arena in March.
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Malala gives a copy of her book to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
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Malala addresses students and faculty of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after receiving the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in September 2013.
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Queen Rania of Jordan presents Malala with the Leadership in Civil Society Award at the Clinton Global Citizen Awards ceremony in New York in September 2013.
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Musician Bono, right, and Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, honor Malala with the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award at the Manison House in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2013. The award is Amnesty International's highest honor, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights.
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Malala receives a trophy from Yemeni civil rights activist Tawakkol Karman after being honored with the International Children's Peace Prize in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2013. Karman was one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2011.
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Malala receives the 25th International Prize of Catalonia in July 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes those who have contributed to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world.
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Malala is applauded before she speaks at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York on July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday. "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," she said. "And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices."
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Malala was one of seven people featured on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people edition in April 2013.
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Malala returns to school at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013. She said she had "achieved her dream."
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Malala recovers after receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 19, 2012. Doctors covered the large hole in her skull with a titanium plate. The teen suffered no major brain or nerve damage, and she even kept the piece of her skull that was removed as a souvenir of her fight.
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Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher on October 9, 2012, after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in Mingora, Pakistan.
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Malala on being Pakistani prime minister 00:32
Malala describes her shooting 00:57
Malala Yousafzai wins Sakharov prize 01:07
In his inimitable fashion, the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, made a joke about children and education when meeting Malala at the palace.
"It's one thing about children going to school," he said, "they go to school because their parents don't want them in the house."
In an interview with CNN last week, Malala joked that she was going "because it's the order of the Queen, it's the command."
Malala has been based in Britain since she was rushed there for major surgery after the Taliban shot her in the head in her native Pakistan because of her efforts to promote girls' education.
It's been a busy few days for the 16-year-old.
Last Friday, as the world marked the International Day of the Girl, she met U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
Undaunted by the occasion, she challenged the President over U.S. drone strikes in her homeland, saying that they risk "fueling terrorism" and that U.S. efforts would be better focused on promoting education, according to a statement she released. The U.S. government has said strikes by the unmanned aircraft are a necessary part of the fight against militant groups, including the Taliban.
A day earlier, Malala won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded by the European Parliament.
Parliament President Martin Schulz called her a "brave advocate for education" who "reminds us of our duty toward children and especially girls."
Malala's memoir, which recounts her experiences after she was shot and her determination not to be intimidated by extremists, was released October 8.
There had been speculation that she might also be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday, but it went instead to the world's chemical weapons watchdog.
Malala's activism started after the Taliban banned girls from schools in Pakistan's Swat Valley in 2009. She anonymously blogged for the BBC in opposition to that order and became an open advocate for girls' education.
In 2011, Malala told CNN, "I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk."
A year later, at age 15, she was riding the bus home from school when a Taliban gunman climbed aboard and shot her in the head. She nearly died.
Since then, Malala has recovered and continued advocating for girls' education, despite ongoing death threats from the Taliban.
