While summer plans are looking rather different this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, Queen Elizabeth’s vacation schedule is starting to get back to normal. The monarch usually travels to Balmoral Castle, her home in the Scottish Highlands, in mid-July, and stays there with Prince Philip until October, but with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the U.K., it wasn’t clear if she’d be able to make her usual getaway to Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been quarantining at Windsor Castle since mid-March. The 94-year-old Queen and 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh are both in the at-risk age bracket, and haven’t seen any of their family members. Now that coronavirus restrictions for those over 70 are lifting at the beginning of August, they’re planning to jet to Balmoral for their summer holiday, reports the Sun.
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will fly via helicopter from Windsor to Balmoral, per the Sun, and remain there until at least October. Preparations for Queen Elizabeth’s arrival have already begun, with everyone carefully following precautions and regulations. Balmoral is the Queen’s favorite of all her royal homes, so she’s surely thrilled to make her way over to the Scottish Highlands next month.
The Queen usually expects the royal family to come visit her at some point during her time at Balmoral, but it’s unclear if they’ll be able to with the travel recommendations in place this year. Prince William and Kate Middleton typically bring their three children with them when they go to see the Queen at Balmoral in August, but they might stay at their own country home, Anmer Hall, this year.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly accepted the Queen’s invitation for a summer visit to Balmoral earlier this year, and were planning on bringing Archie. Now that coronavirus cases are rising in California and travel is super tricky from the U.S. across the pond, it’s looking less likely that the Sussexes will be able to make the journey to Balmoral soon.
Hopefully, the Balmoral staff is able to get pesky passersby to stop using Balmoral grounds as their personal toilet before the Queen arrives. According to CNN, people going by the Scottish estate have been relieving themselves on the property, and discarding wipes all over the grounds.
