Queen Elizabeth has been spending much of her time riding horses while in isolation at Windsor Castle. The monarch has been in her favorite royal house since the middle of March and will likely stay in Windsor until the summer due to the coronavirus lockdown.
According to a friend, the Queen remains in great spirits as she does her daily horse rides, which compensates for her not being able to go to her royal engagements. One other advantage of staying put in Windsor was that she could spend more time with her husband, Prince Philip.
"They have dinner together in the evenings and I imagine the Queen is of the generation where she dresses for dinner," the friend told Vanity Fair. "She is riding out every day and is making the most of this time."
The Queen usually stays in Windsor Castle until the Easter holiday. This year, however, she has extended her time and will likely not travel to Balmoral for the summer to mitigate the risk of contracting the virus.
However, the friend also said that Queen Elizabeth is raring to get back to her royal duties if she could only be out in public. But since she and Prince Philip are part of the vulnerable age group against the coronavirus, they have no option but to follow the health guidelines of the government to set as an example for her subjects.
Despite the lack of royal engagements and private meetings, Queen Elizabeth still receives her red boxes of government updates. She also has her weekly audience with the prime minister by phone. She is still very much the head of state. Buckingham Palace is also planning her schedule for the fall.
"The Queen is planning to come back to work and when she does, I think we'll see her work harder than ever," the friend said.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth led the royal family in thanking the nurses for International Nurses Day. According to reports, the Queen called up the president of the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Foundation to acknowledge the modern-day heroes.
Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton and the rest of the royal family also acknowledge the nurses through video calls. The Prince of Wales thanked the nurses for the diligence and courage, while his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall said they are extraordinary people.
The Duchess of Cambridge, on the other hand, teamed up with the Countess of Wessex to speak to nurses from seven different Commonwealth countries. Kate also wrote a letter to the Nursing Now group and said that they always have crucial roles to fulfill.
