The Queen To Withdraw From Public For Months Due To The Pandemic Crisis

The Queen is to withdraw from public duties for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is expected to be the longest absence from official engagements in Her Majesty's 68-year reign, The Sunday Times reports. The 94-year-old monarch will remain at Windsor Castle "indefinitely", where she relocated during the crisis with Prince Philip.

The publication also states that her diary of engagements into the autumn is on hold, and that plans for a state visit from South Africa in October are still undecided.

Buckingham Palace will be closed for the summer amid the crisis, in what is believed to be the first time in 27 years. A number of royal events have been postponed or cancelled this year including Trooping of the Colour, the annual Queen's Birthday Parade which was due to take place on June 13, the Order of the Garter Service, and the monarch's annual garden parties.

Traditional gun salutes to mark the Queen's birthday on April 21 were cancelled, with a Buckingham Palace official confirming that the monarch believed it would inappropriate at this time.

While the country may not see the Queen out and about in the public domain for some time, Her Majesty has kept in touch with the nation by delivering messages of reassurance to the UK during the coronavirus outbreak.

This week the Queen marked VE Day with a poignant address which as aired exactly 75 years on from her father King George VI's speech at the end of the Second World War in Europe.

Acknowledging that celebrations for the 75th anniversary of VE Day were impacted by coronavirus restrictions, the Queen said, "our streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other".

"When I look at our country today and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire," she added.

The Queen also gave her first ever Easter Sunday speech to reassure the nation that the "coronavirus will not overcome us".

This article originally appeared on Harper’s BAZAAR UK.

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