Remember when Donald Trump claimed he was being tested constantly for the coronavirus? I never believed it at the time, but I bet he’s had several test over the past three months, and maybe he’s even gotten the coronavirus antibody test too. My question: do you think Queen Elizabeth has ever been tested for the virus or for the antibodies? It just feels like everyone assumes that the Queen managed to slip away from the pandemic without catching the virus, but hell, she was in the viral soup of London in mid-March too. Of course, there’s still no real confirmation on the virus’s mutations and whether people can get different versions of the virus. I bring this up because I honestly wonder if the palace and royal protection officers will truly be able to keep Ol’ Liz on lockdown for the rest of 2020. This kind of system described by the Sun does not seem like the best plan for the next seven months:
The Queen’s closest servants are working three-week shifts in isolation away from their families, The Sun can reveal. The 24 staff are allowed to spend two weeks at home, a third week in quarantine and are tested for Covid-19 before resuming work. And it is feared the royal lockdown may be extended indefinitely to protect the 94-year-old monarch and Prince Philip, 98.
The Queen has been surrounded by a team of hand-picked staff at Windsor Castle since restrictions were imposed nine weeks ago. The extensive precautions to keep her safe from coronavirus can now be revealed.
Her band of 24 are split into two teams of 12 who work “three weeks on, three weeks off”. Every member has to be tested for Covid-19 and their temperatures taken before they can start their next three-week shift.
Last month, The Sun revealed ex-Royal Navy officer Tony Johnstone-Burt, the Master of the Household, had described the protective ring as “HMS Bubble”. The tight ring of protection — which has increased from 22 to 24 — was likened to a long deployment at sea when sailors are separated from their families.
Royal aides are preparing to keep the Queen isolated for many months and her diary until the end of year is now under review. A source told The Sun: “No chances can be taken with the Queen and the Duke’s health, so it’s totally understandable. But the fact this move has been taken indicates there will be no change soon. The Queen will clearly be in lockdown for many months. It’s hard to see when it will be deemed safe for her to venture out again.”
Am I an a–hole for thinking about the expense and the time-consumption of this? I mean, isn’t the Queen just hanging out in a few rooms in Windsor Castle, and going riding every morning or something like that? Does she really need a team of 12 people every single day? *whispers* Wouldn’t it be easier to just test the Queen regularly and have maybe three or four employees helping her out full-time? Just an idea. Clearly, I have no understanding of the realities of “taking care of one 90-something Queen.” Even if you factor in nursing care for Prince Philip (and I assume he has round-the-clock nursing care), I still don’t understand how it takes TWELVE people on-staff constantly for two seniors.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
As much as I hate defending QE2, my guess is most of them are protection officers.
Maybe 1 cook, 1-2 housekeepers, and one personal assistant for each leaves 9 protection officers likely working rotating shifts. So 3 per shift. Maybe they have a nurse on staff as well.
I could also see having somebody that looks after the horses and dogs
QE has been seen horseback riding so there would be at least one groom dealing with the horse for QE, the horse for the groom (who appears to also ride with her) and, perhaps, the horses for the royal protection officers who May also ride along.
I didn’t even think of the protection officers,
MTE, twelve people isn’t excessive when we consider who we’re talking about.
I can imagine it would take at least 2-3 housekeepers just to keep the place clean, and I honestly don’t see Liz popping down to the kitchen to make herself ‘a cuppa’ so for sure 1-2 cooks, and so on.
I think they are mostly talking about the bodyguards. At least some of their domestic staff usually live there. It’s how they justify paying them so little. They get free housing and meals.
Yes, I believe that there would be a nurse on duty as well as a home health aid to take care of both QE and Prince Phillip. Prince Phillip, in particular, may need someone to assist him in exercise/therapy activities in order to remain mobile.
6 of them at least are to babysit Andrew.
“Her band of 24 are split into two teams of 12 who work “three weeks on, three weeks off”.”
Uh no. That’s a lot to ask for an employee, especially if that means being separated from your family for long periods of time. I hope they’re getting additional pay/overtime to do this.
Of course not! They’re doing their ‘duty’.
2-3 cooks, 2 chamber maids, a valet, a lady’s maid, a chauffeur, a butler, a housekeeper, a driver? And maybe 2 nurses? Do they need all of these things? Probably not, but they’re old, I wouldn’t want them cooking and cleaning, and they probably need help getting dressed, and I know they’re not going any where, but I really don’t want them driving.
Petty Betty doesn’t even know how to choose her own outfits. She has someone who does that for her. I doubt she know how to cook. Phillip gave up driving after that incident where he ran another car off of the road. Does Liz drive herself anywhere?
My guess is that each has two full time protection officers (I imagine there is a security team elsewhere in the building that has no contact with the royals, i.e. security cameras, perimeter checks, that kind of thing), two cooks, two personal assistants, and then two…valets/female equivalent, and then a housekeeper and three cleaners.
It seems a bit excessive, but considering their normal lifestyle….
I can understand not wanting 2 90 year olds getting exposed to the coronavirus.
I don’t know if they need 12 people to have direct contact with them.
I do not find 12 a large number because they are taking care of QEII, Phillip, their private quarters and the stud. People working for QEII cannot come in contact with people not working working for QEII as they might become contaminated. So with a staff of twelve you have 2-3 cooks cooking four meals a day for the household that cannot leave Windsor Castle, a minimum of three general cleaners, the head housekeeper, Philip’s valet, Phillip’s nurse, Phillip’s Secretary, Angela Kelly, QEIIs private secretary, the horse dude, a butler or under butler, a driver-runner-errand boy, a footman and minimum of two personal protection officers.
When you live formally at a place like Windsor, 12 people are really not a lot (or does not seem like a lot to me). The only truly private service people are Philip’s valet, Phillips nurse, Phillips Secretary, Angela Kelly and QEIIs private secretary. All the rest of the staff would be working at Windsor no matter who was living at Windsor or even if no one royal was in current residence living at Windsor.
I agree.
It doesn’t seem a large number to me, if you add some security too.
Just basic maintenance on a facility as large and as complicated as Windsor requires more than 12 full-time staffers. If there are only 12 people there at this time, that means that a lot of maintenance is being deferred (not a bad idea during a pandemic, but someone needs to keep an eye out for water damage from an old, busted pipe or leaky roof).
But yes, I’d guess that 4 or 5 of the staffers are protection, at least 2 are cooks (since the staff is living/eating on site), one is laundry/light cleaning, someone else is doing heavy cleaning (Liz isn’t scrubbing any bathrooms), the nursing staff, one or two stable staff, and a personal assistant for Liz and one for Phil.
I feel like this is a dumb question, but I’ll ask anyway. Why does the queen need protection officers in lockdown? If she’s not going anywhere, who are they protecting her from?
I interpreted it to mean that it is 12 staffers who have interactions with the Queen. so for example, there may be gardeners still there, but they are not interacting with the Queen OR with anyone who is interacting with her. I feel like the 12 staffers who see her are probably only seeing her, Phillip and each other for their 3 week rotation. So there may be other staffers outside that bubble (including the stables) but they aren’t getting anywhere near the Queen.
I also imagine the Queen is staying in private apartments and there is a great deal of Windsor Castle that she may normally use that is now closed off, to help keep the cleaning staff smaller.
If she’s going riding (and I believe she is), she’s interacting with the stable staff, which means that person is in lockdown with her.
As for protection officers – someone is with her 24/7, regardless of where she is and what else happening – there is someone sitting outside of her bedroom all night, every night. It’s been that way since a person managed to get into her bedroom in the middle of the night in Buck House years and years ago.
Yes, most of the castle is closed so cleaning is minimized, but someone from maintenance is doing the rounds to make sure there are no water leaks causing damage and the inevitable rodents are being found and eliminated (no building that big or that old is without a family or 10 of mice living in it). Those people are probably not in contact with the group that is in lockdown with Liz, but they are around.
Does she need a footman and a butler if she isn’t receiving guests?
To help get her on that horse so she can pose for picture and then get back off again.
Dog-polisher, pillow-mint-placer, pony wrangler, page-turner, letter-opener, salmon-filleter, hide-the-batteries-in-Phillip’s-deaf-aids-er, pleb-mail-sanitiser, pillow-plumper, Andrew-sinister-gaffe-concealer, and telephone-and-remote-control-wiper.
Have I missed any?
Gin and Dubonnet retriever? Although maybe has trained a corgi to fetch her cocktails for her.
In a little dog-cart, presumably?
(Groan, I’ll show myself out)
Well dont you know they’re more important than the rest of us, the univerise actually belongs to them, god said so, lol.
Im going to guess that a couple of those folk may well be health staff for old Phillip. A cook, housekeeper & cleaning staff, valets of some sort (we know that someone lays out Lizzies clothes for her daily), personal secretary, protection and thats for starters. Cant think of anything else, but there may well be a royal toilet flusher for all we know …..
I thought Phillip and Elizabeth were living separately, or are together right now?
I think it’s about protecting their jobs and that the more employees businesses can keep on, the better for the economy. She would be facing more criticism if she sacked a whole bunch of staff.