But sources close to the royals say it’ll still be the central base of the monarchy.
There’s a royal real estate update that has Queen Elizabeth leaving her longtime home of Buckingham Palace. According to the Sunday Times, the queen reportedly won’t be coming back from Windsor Castle, where she’s been living for the past two years. She relocated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and sources say she’s staying put, though Buckingham Palace will remain the “central base” of the monarch.
People adds that a $460 million, decade-long refurbishment project started at Buckingham Palace back in 2016 and that the queen would remain there during the construction, but she’s been conducting her royal duties at Windsor since the world went into lockdown. With the queen taking calls on video and inviting heads of state like Justin Trudeau to Windsor — which is about 20 miles from Buckingham Palace — there doesn’t seem to be a reason for her to go back to business as usual in London proper.
However, there could be another reason. Though Elizabeth had originally planned on coming back to Buckingham Palace, she “has changed her mind, now feeling more comfortable at the castle where she lived with Prince Philip until his death last April,” The Sunday Times added.
Windsor also has plenty of family nearby, with Prince Andrew living in the Royal Lodge (which is also on the royal estate) and Elizabeth’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, very close as well. Frogmore House, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle used to live, is also on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The queen will be in London for her upcoming appointments. She’s set to be in town on March 14 for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey and a service of thanksgiving to celebrate Prince Philip’s life on March 29.
-Instyle
