HRH is taking extra precaution to avoid the spreading virus.
Buckingham Palace has just announced that the Queen will be cancelling several of her public events 'in the coming weeks'. The move comes as Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, with Europe currently the focal point of the global pandemic and 145,835 cases reported worldwide.
While of those cases, there have only been 5,438 deaths, the virus is proving fatal to the elderly, and so the Royal family are taking extra precaution as the Queen, at 93-years-old, is highly vulnerable if she were to come into contact with it.
Buckingham Palace officials announced yesterday that this 'sensible precaution' was to ensure the Queen stayed safe, given that, as above, as a result of her age, she falls into the very high risk category of the virus proving deadly.
The statement released by Royal officials confirmed: 'As a sensible precaution and for practical reasons in the current circumstances, changes are being made to The Queen’s diary commitments in the coming weeks.'
'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.'
While it's a shame that the Monarch's diary and commitments are being amended, it feels like a necessary precaution during these scary times. Many other events are being cancelled or rearranged accordingly; Princess Beatrice's wedding may also be affected by virus, so HRH isn't the only Royal changing plans. Plus, major sporting events like the London marathon have been postponed, although the Met Gala is still reportedly going ahead. Watch this space.
It's by no meams the first defence put in place to defend HRH; handing out MBEs at the Palace last week, the Queen was photographed wearing gloves, which she doesn't normally do. Twitter fans reckon this might have been to ensure that if she did come into contact with someone who was carrying the virus, she didn't carry it on her hands herself.
On the day, Royal staff members posted a touching video of the Queen giving D-Day veteran Harry Billinge his MBE medal. In it, you can see Her Majesty's cream gloves as she shakes Harry's hand.
If you're worried about catching COVID-19, please do head to the NHS website for more information.
