Queen Elizabeth leaves Buckingham Palace over coronavirus fear

As the deadly coronavirus outbreak continues to take a toll on the world, Queen Elizabeth II has left the Buckingham Palace and has been shifted to Windsor Castle. According to reports, there are plans to quarantine her along with Prince Philip at Sandringham if the COVID-19 spread worsens in the country. As of March 15, the UK has reported 1,140 confirmed cases with 21 deaths while the global death toll has surpassed 5,800. 

The royal source told a media outlet that the Queen was taken to Windsor castle while mentioning that “she is in good health”, however, it was thought that it was “best to move her” because most of her staff is reportedly “panicky” over the drastic spread of the fatal virus since it was discovered in the Chinese province of Wuhan in December 2019.

Moreover, the Palace continues to remain crowded with constant visits of politicians and dignitaries from around the world. Even though the Queen has met a lot of people until recently, she is now a few weeks away from celebrating her 94th birthday and her advisers believe it was “best to get her out of harm's way”. 

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'Dangerous location'

The same source reportedly added that the Buckingham Palace is deemed as the “much more dangerous location” as it is in the middle of London and has a bigger staff than any other estate. The  Palace has employed currently 500 people while Windsor has a staff of 100 and Sandringham estate in Norfolk has only a handful of people. The royal source elaborated that “there have been no specific scares or positive tests” but “no one wants to take any chances”. 

The garden parties which are reportedly on the verge of being cancelled were scheduled in May and June with nearly 30,000 guests. Moreover, the monarch might also have to miss the Epson Derby on June 6. On March 13, the Royal Family released a statement about the changes in the Queen's diary commitments in the upcoming weeks as “sensible precaution” for “practical reasons”. 

The statement said, “In consultation with the Medical Household and Government, Her Majesty’s forthcoming visits to Cheshire and Camden will be rescheduled.  Audiences will continue as usual. Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice.”

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(With PTI inputs)