LONDON — Malala Yousafzai skipped school for the day but she had a pretty good excuse: she was meeting Queen Elizabeth II.

The 16-year-old advocate for girls’ education and survivor of a Taliban assassination attempt gave the 87-year-old queen a copy of her book, “I Am Malala,” and spoke Friday with her about the importance of education.

Malala said she wouldn’t ordinarily miss a school day but had made an exception. The pair also chatted about Malala’s homeland, Pakistan’s Swat Valley, which the queen visited decades ago.

Malala was one of the guests invited to the reception on youth and education at Buckingham Palace in London. Earlier this month she was ranked by bookmakers as one of the top possible contenders for a Nobel Peace Prize.