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Queen could remain in quarantine until Covid-19 vaccine is found

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Queen Elizabeth (PHOTO: Getty Images/Gallo Images)
Queen Elizabeth (PHOTO: Getty Images/Gallo Images)

Don’t expect to see Queen Elizabeth out and about for some time.

A new report claims Her Majesty may not be allowed to continue with her royal duties "for years" due to the risk of catching the coronavirus.

Royal biographer Andrew Morton says the 94-year-old may possibly never resume her regular duties as the risk to herself as well as to her husband, Prince Philip, who turns 99 next month, is just too high, Daily Mail reports.

Both are currently isolating at Windsor Castle where they’ve been since mid-March.

Her enforced absence is expected to be the longest time she’s been kept away from her royal duties in her 68-year reign.

"It’s terribly sad but I can't see how the queen can resume her usual job," the 66-year-old author, who penned Diana: Her True Story, told the UK’s The Sun.

"The Covid-19 virus isn't going away soon and will be with us for months, if not years. It would be far too risky for the queen to start meeting people on a regular basis."

He reckons she’ll most likely be seen on TV or video links in the future.

Earlier today a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the monarch continues to be "busy", conducting weekly meetings with the prime minister by phone among other things.

All her summer engagements including Trooping of the Colour have been cancelled or put on hold.

According to the spokesperson she’ll "follow appropriate advice on engagements" and is keeping in touch with her family by phone and video calls.

Meanwhile for the first time in 27 years Buckingham Palace will be closed for the summer. The Queen usually returns there from Windsor in May before her annual break at Balmoral in Scotland in July, but that’s also expected not to go ahead.

(Sources: Daily Mail, Express, Channel24)

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