British Royalty
End of an era: Queen Elizabeth II moves out of Buckingham Palace
Queen Elizabeth II moves permanently to Windsor Castle
© Ben STANSALL/POOL/AFP
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, Queen Elizabeth II has moved to her weekend residence at Windsor Castle. But now she will never return to her actual home, Buckingham Palace.
At the age of 95, the Queen finally bid farewell to London city life and moved entirely to rural Windsor Castle. From there, the Queen would primarily like to make virtual appointments in her home office in the future, reports the “Sunday Times”.
Royal author Hugo Vickers told the Sunday Times: “Windsor Castle is the place she loves. She has many memories here of Prince Philip in his last years, her ponies there and her family close by. The Moving makes sense.”
Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla and the Queen recently contracted Covid-19. Luckily, the effects were only mild flu-like symptoms. Since then, the Queen has hardly kept any public appointments and has already significantly streamlined her schedule in the last year. The 95-year-old is now withdrawing a little more from the public. Even weekly appointments with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, will only take place in the form of video calls in the future.
At Windsor Castle, the Queen is closer to her children
During the lockdown period of the pandemic, the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, who died last year, moved their temporary residence to Windsor. The aged Queen is also closer to two of her four children at Windsor Castle. Her son Prince Andrew also lives on the grounds of the castle. Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Wessex also live just 10 miles away. In addition, it was recently said that Prince William and Duchess Kate are looking for a new home nearby. Accordingly, the Cambridges only wanted to use their headquarters in Kensington Palace for official purposes.
The move to Windsor Castle could also be related to ongoing renovations at Buckingham Palace. These should last until 2027. Even if the Queen will mostly work from her home office in the future, she will still attend selected dates, such as the celebrations for her 70th throne jubilee this year.
Source: Daily Mail, Sunday Times