The coronavirus is changing the British royal institution. This week, the Queen's staff confirmed that Her Majesty will not be doing public engagements for the foreseeable future to protect the monarch.
As the Queen continues to isolate in Windsor Castle with her husband Prince Philip, the rest of the royal staff are, reportedly, preparing for "several months of royal lockdown." In this light, royal biographer Andrew Morton said that Queen Elizabeth won't likely return to public duties anymore.
At 94 years old, there's just too much risk for the monarch, especially with no vaccine against COVID-19 in sight. The only way to protect Queen Elizabeth from contracting the virus is to limit the people she sees and to self-isolate as much as possible.
"The COVID-19 virus isn't going away soon and will be with us for months, if not years," Morton said. "How can she carry out investitures, meet ambassadors, do walkabouts and visit places without meeting people at close range? If she gets the bug, it could be fatal and would put Prince Philip at risk."
Thus, Morton presumed that the Queen will be spending most of her reign in a digital video platform like Zoom. Morton said that the public will likely see much of the Queen in video links.
"We will have a Zoom monarchy," the biographer said. "She will be Her Majesty the Screen."
As it is, many of Queen Elizabeth's duties have, reportedly, been happening behind the scenes. Her Majesty has been having her weekly audience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson via telephone. She has also been signing government documents from her office in Windsor Castle.
Sources also said that Queen Elizabeth will not take the risk. Thus, she will keep following the government guidelines despite her dedication to her duties.
The Queen, therefore, will not mind it if other members of the royal family would deputize for her and be the ones physically present at royal events. Prince Charles may perform the Queen's duties on her behalf but he is also at risk for the coronavirus and actually had the disease in early April. Fortunately, Prince Charles' COVID-19 symptoms have been mild and he quickly recovered after a week.
Prince William and Kate Middleton may also step in for the elderly royals for succeeding public engagements. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have, in fact, been carrying on with their royal work despite being in isolation in Anmer Hall. They have done countless of Zoom meetings as well, when personal royal engagements are still prohibited during this time.
