UK's Queen Mother 'getting better'

The Queen pictured on her 100th birthday

LONDON, England -- The Queen told well-wishers on Sunday that the Queen Mother was "getting better all the time."

The Queen Mother has not been seen in public since November 21 when she recommissioned the aircraft carrier Ark Royal at a ceremony in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Last week she was said by Buckingham Palace to be confined to her room on the Royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk, with a bug.

But the Queen, speaking after attending church at Sandringham, said her mother, who is 101, was "much stronger."

Pensioner Margaret Wilson, 60, asked after the Queen Mother's health when she handed flowers to the Queen following the service at St Mary's Church.

"I asked how the Queen Mother was and the Queen said: `She is getting better all the time. Much stronger now."'

A spokeswoman at Clarence House told CNN there was little change in the Queen Mother's health since last week, but that she was "slowly getting better."

About 150 people gathered outside the church for Sunday service.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who are staying on the Royal Sandringham estate with the Queen Mother, were the only members of the Royal family to attend the service.