Queen Elizabeth is reportedly ready to return and resume work in Buckingham Palace. The monarch is raring to restart her normal royal duties to help boost the morale in London.
According to reports, the Queen has a schedule to be in London in October following her two-week stay in Sandringham. She is going to see through a selected number of royal engagements where her presence is "symbolically important."
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said that Queen Elizabeth's return to Buckingham Palace will be a most welcome sight. The London capital has suffered too much from the pandemic and her reappearance will keep the people's spirits up.
Fitzwilliams added that Buckingham Palace is the monarchy's nerve center and nothing compares to the sight of seeing the front of the palace with the Queen. He said that this always brings the nation together and it is what the country needs in this pandemic crisis.
However, the Queen's in-person royal engagements at her official home will still be scaled down in line with the guidelines of the government. At 94 years old, the monarch is most at risk of getting sick from the virus if exposed.
In the last six months, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, 99, have been protected from the virus under a bubble. Royal staff members around them ensured that they will never contract COVID-19 by enforcing and following strict safety protocols. Anyone violating the protocols would be subjected to strict penalties.
But, while Her Majesty will visit Buckingham Palace soon, she will not be living there. A spokesperson said that the monarch intends to go home to Windsor Castle after her royal engagements and duties.
According to Hello, the Queen will likely be staying at Windsor Castle alone while Prince Philip will remain at Sandringham in his five-bedroom estate, Wood Farm. The spokesperson said that the royal staff are still discussing Prince Philip's living arrangements since he prefers to be at his retirement house.
But Palace sources said that having two elderly royals in two separate places might prove to be a logistical problem because this will entail two sets of safety protocols. At the height of the lockdown in March, Prince Philip was driven from Wood Farm to Windsor Castle to join the Queen in isolation. They have not lived separately since and the royal staff only needed to look after this particular bubble.
Buckingham Palace will continuously review the arrangements of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip by October.
