Why Queen Elizabeth II Might Never Live Again at Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II may choose not to use her apartment at Buckingham Palace due to ongoing renovations, instead choosing to live full-time at Windsor Castle for the rest of her reign.

The renovation program currently underway at Buckingham Palace at a cost of approximately $500 million (£365 million) is not scheduled for completion for the next five years, at which time the Queen will be over 100.

The ten-year-long project was overhauling the wiring, heating and plumbing system in 2017 that hadn't been updated since the 1950s. However, the project has faced disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was intended that save for a few weeks, in which the Queen's private apartments would be remodeled, the palace would be completely occupied and operational during the works.

However, with the outbreak of the global pandemic in March 2020, the Queen moved into a COVID-safe bubble at Windsor Castle with key members of her household and her husband, Prince Philip.

Windsor is known as the Queen's favorite royal residence, she chose to spend weekends at the palace throughout her reign, and many members of her family lived around its substantial grounds.

Ian Lloyd, author of The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Elizabeth II, told MaharianaNews:

“Windsor is her favorite home so she is very happy there and it holds many happy memories for her. She did lockdown there with Prince Philip so I think it is fitting that she would like to stay in Windsor as much as possible "

The pandemic saw the Queen spend more time at the palace than at any other point in her life, apart from the years she lived there with her sister Princess Margaret during World War II.

In a speech given at the start of the pandemic, the Queen referred to her war years at the palace, now famous for the line: "We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again." . "

In it she recounts the first speech her sister Margaret helped give to children affected by war in 1940.

According to The Times, she is still at Windsor Castle two years after the broadcast of the Queen's pandemic speech and is unlikely to return to live at Buckingham Palace.

With engagements over video calls now in her working life and visitors coming to see her instead of coming, the Queen has found a comfortable working rhythm at the palace, unlikely to be displaced for Buckingham Palace.

Lloyd told Mahriyanews: "I think like her father, who referred to Buckingham Palace as the office, she sees it as a more working environment and of course recently that all changed. Because she can now work remotely with video conferencing.

“We have seen how she can meet ambassadors, which was one of the main reasons she was in the palace to meet people, she can now do so at a distance. Even the prime minister sometimes Windsor, so it's not necessary to be at Buckingham Palace these days. But of course, it's a symbolic focal point of the monarchy."

An exception to this new "working from home" model that the Queen has adopted will come with the Platinum Jubilee ceremony this summer.