Queen Elizabeth's reign as the monarch is "effectively over." A royal biographer has revealed that it will be too risky for the Queen to resume her public duties in the face of a pandemic.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton said that the coronavirus has been most damaging to the royal family than Princess Diana or Oliver Cromwell. Morton expressed sadness that the Queen can no longer be safe to be in public since the coronavirus is not going away without any vaccine.
Morton also said that the "brutal truth" is Queen Elizabeth, who loves to meet people and attend royal engagements, won't be able to do this for a very long time. The palace and the royal family can't take the risk, since the Queen is at such a vulnerable age.
Thus, Prince Charles, who is the heir to the throne, has actually been assuming the Queen's duties and will likely continue doing so while the Queen's health has to be protected. The Prince of Wales is expected to be taking on more work as the U.K. relaxes its quarantine and lockdown measures in the coming weeks.
It comes as the palace announced in April that the Queen will remain in isolation at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip until the rest of the summer. Buckingham Palace has also canceled Queen Elizabeth's engagements until the end of the season and she won't be expected to travel to Balmoral this year.
The Queen was last seen in a public engagement during the Commonwealth Day observations in the middle of March. She also did two televised address, while Buckingham Palace released photos of the Queen regularly.
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace, however, said that Queen Elizabeth has been conducting regularly meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson via phone calls. She has been in touch with her government and family regularly through technology, thus assessing that she is still in charge in the monarchy.
Much has been speculated about the Queen's retirement even before the pandemic struck. In December, Buckingham Palace issued a statement to address speculations that the royal will be stepping down when she turns 95 in 2021. A palace spokesperson said that the Queen will not retire and there are no plans for her to do so.
Queen Elizabeth is determined to stay as monarch until the day she dies. She believes that this is her destiny and that she's duty-bound to her oath to the Crown.
