Queen Elizabeth underwent cataract surgery, Buckingham Palace reveals

Queen Elizabeth, 92, the world's oldest monarch, underwent successful surgery at a London hospital to treat an eye cataract last month, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

"I can confirm that the Queen successfully underwent a short, planned procedure to treat a cataract last month," a palace spokesperson said, declining to give further details.

The Press Association news agency said Britain's longest-reigning monarch, who has been on the throne for more than 66 years, underwent the surgery, the most common operation performed in the United Kingdom, atprivate King Edward VII Hospital.

She did not have to cancel any official engagements after the treatment, a royal source said, although the Queen has been pictured wearing sunglasses at some recent events.

A specific date of the surgery was not given. The Queen attended the wedding of grandson Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle on May 19.

Earlier on Friday, a smiling Elizabeth appeared without glasses to open the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at London's Westminster Abbey along with her son and heir Prince Charles.

She is next due to appear in public at Saturday's Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London to celebrate her "official" birthday. Her real birthday is on April 21.

Cataracts are when the lens, a small transparent disc inside your eye, develops cloudy patches. Over time these patches usually become bigger, causing blurry, misty vision and eventually blindness.

Despite her age, the Queen is known for her robust health and still carries out hundreds of engagements every year.

In 2016, she missed the annual Christmas service she usually attends with her family on her estate in Sandringham, eastern England, due to a heavy cold.

In 2013,she was taken to hospital for treatment for gastroenteritis,which forced her to cancel atrip to Italy.