The Queen exited Windsor Castle this morning, a few hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown measures come into effect. The king is pictured in a car wearing sunglasses and a somber black outfit.
This is the first time the Queen has appeared in public since the announcement of the death of her cousin and close friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Shakerley.
The Queen is set to spend her second national lockdown at Windsor Castle with her husband Prince Philip and a small number of her employees, known as HMS Bubble.
However, it is expected to appear in public at the weekend, when the country gathers to commemorate Sunday.
On that day, a limited number of royals are set to attend a ceremony that has been stripped of clothes, socially distanced and locked away at the London Monument to honor the victims.
The Queen will likely oversee the ceremony from a balcony in Whitehall, while the Prince of Wales will lead the country in two minutes of silence.
The King and Duke of Edinburgh have already spent their first lockdown together at their Berkshire home.
On March 19, the Queen and the Duke arrived in Windsor from Buckingham Palace and Sandringham respectively, and began a five-month period of self-isolation.
During these weeks, the king continued to work, holding weekly meetings by phone call with the prime minister and receiving the government’s red fund on a daily basis.
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The king also distinguished himself first by participating in a royal sharing via a conference call.
During the engagement, she spoke with members of the Carers Trust and Princess Anne.
In June, the Queen attended a stripped-down parade of Color Soldiers in a quadrant at Windsor Castle.
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In July, as lockdown measures began nationwide, the Queen awarded Sir Captain Tom Moore in her first face-to-face event since mid-March.
On the same day, the Queen also attended the secret wedding of Princess Beatrice and Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi, which was held in Windsor in front of a handful of guests.
The Queen and her 72-year-old husband left for Balmoral Castle in early August.
There, they received quite a few royal guests – including Cambridges and Wessexes – observing government guidelines.
In mid-September, the elderly couple traveled together to Norfolk, where they spent a few weeks privately at Wood Cottage.
The Queen has left her husband at his main residence since August 2017 in early October to resume her royal duties.
For the past few weeks, the Queen has continued working from Windsor – but has also resumed royal visits as she heads off to Porton Down with Prince William to meet with staff and open a new Energy Analysis Center.
The Queen met her husband late last week, on the eve of Johnson’s announcement of the lockdown, as she traveled to Sandringham to visit Prince Philip.
The couple returned Monday, in a sign that they will be back together again as England shuts down all its unnecessary stores, restaurants and bars.
The new close will begin at 00.01 on Thursday 5 November and end at 00.01 on Wednesday 2 December.
After these four weeks, England will be divided again into ranked regions, according to infection levels.
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