Queen Elizabeth has reportedly left Buckingham Palace due to fears surrounding the coronavirus.
The Queen, 93, was rushed out of Buckingham Palace to head to her residence of Windsor Castle on Thursday right after the Cobra crisis talks. Plans are already in place to quarantine the Queen and her 98 year-old husband Prince Philip at Sandringham if the coronavirus continues to get worse, according to Fox News.
“She is in good health but it was thought best to move her. A lot of her staff are a bit panicky over coronavirus,” a royal source explained. “The Palace hosts a constant stream of visitors including politicians and dignitaries from around the world.”
“The Queen has met a lot of people there until recently. But she is weeks away from her 94th birthday and advisers believe it is best to get her out of harm’s way,” the source continued. “Buckingham Palace is in the middle of London and also has a bigger staff than other estates so is deemed a much more dangerous location. There have been no specific scares or positive tests there yet but no one wants to take any chances.”
The Queen may make this move permanent until the crisis comes to an end.
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“Future events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis taking into account the appropriate advice,” a spokeswoman for the palace said after it was revealed that the Queen will likely have to miss the Epsom Derby on June 6.
Buckingham Palace has an enormous staff of around 500 people, while Windsor has 100 and Sandringham has just a handful, so it makes sense that the Queen decided to leave her main residence. At 93 years of age, she would be considered a major risk for coronavirus, so it’s understandable that all precautions are being made for her to not be anywhere near it.
The U.K. death toll from coronavirus is currently at 21, and the number of cases in the nation has skyrocketed from 342 to 1,140. Please keep the Queen and her subjects in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
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