Royal Family Taking Big Steps to Shield Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip NOW
Even before the coronavirus became a global pandemic, health experts already warned that the elderly, especially those with an underlying condition, are more vulnerable to catching the deadly virus.
Now that the COVID-19 has also affected the United Kingdom, a lot of people show concern about both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's health. It leaves the people wondering what the Buckingham Palace is doing to protect the 93-year-old monarch and her 98-year-old husband from this health crisis.
On Tuesday, royal expert Angela Mollard suggested that the Queen should limit her public engagements to avoid getting the virus and passing it to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Speaking to "The Morning Show," Mollard said: "They are very vulnerable and, of course, she's married to Prince Philip who's been in ill-health himself."
"I don't think they'll take any risks, particularly with the Queen and her having contact with the public," she added.
Earlier this week, the palace confirmed that they already canceled two of the Queen's engagement, including the one in Cheshire and Camden.
However, Mollar pointed out that Queen Elizabeth will continue to hold a private audience. The royal expert explained that the private audience is a one-on-one meeting, similar to what the viewers see at the royal-inspired Netflix series "The Crown," where the Queen sits down with one person to talk.
"But those crowd events where she is coming into contact with a lot of the public...she wore gloves to an event last week; there won't be the handshaking," Mollard added.
Queen's Public Engagement On Lockdown
Due to the alarmingly growing number of coronavirus cases, the royal family is set to cancel a long list of public events to shield the elder members of the monarchy from getting ill.
According to a Mirror report, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that the entire royal household is already looking into the "implications of the new Government advice and its impact on forthcoming events."
One of the events that will be affected by this cancellation is the Queen's garden parties. Other events like Trooping the Color, the Epsom Derby, and Royal Ascot may also be canceled as the government said that the social distancing mandate might last for a few weeks or even months.
The events in Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh this coming May 2020, which is expected to have more than 30,000 audiences might also be rescheduled or completely canceled.
Big Steps Against COVID-19
In cooperation with the drastic measure outlined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the palace will also take extra measures to shield senior members of the royal family from contracting the virus.
This does not only include Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, but several elder royals as well like 71-year-old Prince Charles, 72-year-old Camila, Duchess of Cornwall, 70-year-old Duke of Kent, 84-year-old Duchess of Kent, and 75-year-old Duke of Gloucester.
Prince William and Camila earlier announced that they would no longer push through their spring tour, which is supposed to start yesterday.
