Why Queen Elizabeth Likely Won’t Return to Buckingham Palace After Her Summer Break in Scotland
The Queen, 94, who is on vacation at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, will likely head back to Windsor Castle rather than her London home of Buckingham Palace
Pool | Max Mumby | Getty Images
The Queen, who is currently on vacation at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, won’t be living at Buckingham Palace for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt working patterns.
Usually the Queen heads back to her London palace residence at the beginning of October following her annual break in Scotland, but this year she’ll be returning to Windsor Castle, where she has been staying with husband Prince Philip, 99, since mid-March amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Earlier this summer, it emerged that the Queen’s public engagements were being scaled back amid the pandemic, but she was able to take part in the outdoor awarding of a knighthood to charity hero, Captain Tom Moore on July 17.
Her July appearance underlines how events and advice are ever-changing and palace insiders are unsure of how the pandemic will affect arrangements for the Queen in the months ahead.
The monarch has been conducting her royal business with a small number of staffers in attendance in a self-contained “bubble” at Windsor Castle. That structure has continued in Scotland and will likely do so when she relocates to Sandringham for the annual Christmas and winter holiday.
