Even before the pandemic, Queen Elizabeth had begun to lighten her load of public/royal work. She had already begun handing things off to the Prince of Wales, who is clearly Regent in everything but name, and her other children and grandchildren. The pandemic really heightened the fact that the bulk of the Queen’s work, from now on, will be private meetings and the odd speech. She’s just shy of 95, and it would be insane to expect anything more than that. Now Becky English at the Daily Mail claims that the Magnificent Seven will take pains to accompany Liz wherever she goes following the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing. I should say so?
The Queen will not be left to ‘walk alone’ following the death of her beloved husband of 73 years. Senior royals are coming together to ensure the monarch is accompanied by a member of the family on future public engagements. Those who will be seen at her side are the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne.
Sources stressed last night that the Queen, who says Prince Philip’s death on Friday has left a ‘huge void’ in her life, will fulfil as many commitments as possible once the two weeks of official mourning ends on April 22 – the day after her 95th birthday. They point out that she has always undertaken solo engagements, both before and after her husband officially retired in 2017. But it is understood there is a concerted effort under way to ensure she has more support in the future.
‘The Duke of Edinburgh is irreplaceable and the Queen’s dedication to duty is undiminished,’ one source said. ‘But senior officials and members of the family have long had an eye on ensuring she is more supported in the future and it seems sensible to start employing this now.’
Another added: ‘If one parent dies the children – and in this case, grandchildren – all step up and fill in in different ways. No single individual could ever take the place of the Duke of Edinburgh, but just maybe all of them coming together will fill some of the space he has left behind.’
Last night sources said there had always been a long-term plan – looking towards the monarch’s 2022 Platinum Jubilee and beyond – to ensure the Queen should have a member of her family with her on major public outings. She is already always accompanied by one of her private secretaries and ladies-in-waiting, who can often be seen hovering in the background, gently guiding the monarch or collecting flowers and gifts.
A source said: ‘The long-term planning has long been that she should have a member of the Royal Family with her as well whenever possible or appropriate. It’s a question now of bringing that forward slightly. If you look back at the pandemic, much of the work of the Royal Family has already been led by Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Catherine. It is very practical way of supporting the Queen. Her Majesty really values that and doesn’t take it for granted. That will continue. But we will see senior family members take up more investitures and some of the more physically burdensome duties the Queen has, as well as going out and about with her when she leaves a royal residence.’
“If you look back at the pandemic, much of the work of the Royal Family has already been led by Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Catherine…” Gee, I wonder who the source is, you guys. Is the Other Brother making some kind of power play? While Charles is the de facto regent, is Baldingham insisting that he and “Catherine” accompany the Queen everywhere? I bet he is. And I would hope that Charles, Anne and Edward shut him down. The other concern is that because of Liz’s vulnerability following Philip’s death, Andrew will just insert himself back into public life “to support his mother” and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I don’t see Charles letting Andrew slip back into anything remotely resembling a public role. I agree this is a particularly vulnerable time for TQ – now is the time for Chuck to stand up and act like a King ( I can’t even believe I typed those words in 2021 ).
Despite popular belief among Charles’ stans, Andrew is not seen as pariah among the family and he wouldn’t have spoken on Sunday without the go ahead from the Palace. I think there is the possibility that Andrew will be put back in public, perhaps as the Queen’s companion.
I hope he is lol
I think this is ALL groundwork to let Pedo start coming out into the public eye, while still “sheltered” behind Mummy’s skirts. C’mon… TQ WAS SHOWN A FEW MONTHS AGO RIDING A HORSE! She is *hardly* the “frail old woman” that this is projecting!
While she may want/like the *emotional* support (even if having an “understanding” in her marriage, that her husband had “companionship” elsewhere most of their relationship, 75 yrs. is a long time “together”. But let’s face it, she was doing *hundreds* of events per year up till Covid, putting all of them (save Charles and Anne) to shame. I doubt this is now because she’s *too frail* or *too cognitively declining* from January until now.
Doesn’t Ghislaine’s trial start soon? That could throw a wrench into Andrew’s plans no matter what he wants. He is absolutely going to have to lay low (I’d go into hiding) and we don’t know yet how much Ghislaine will implicate him. So the timing of the trial might help Charles out.
It would be very damaging for the RF’s local and international image to put Andrew back out on display with the queen. Joffrey and his mannequin will probably use this as an opportunity to be seen with her and elbow the ‘unpopular with the press and public’ Charles out of the way. Lord, what a messy family.
I don’t think the Queen likes Katie keen at all. I loved the cold stone faced silence given to Katie keen after Covid choo choo. And add insult to injury the Queen melted into smiles dismissing Katie keen for Sophie
“Joffery and his manequin” bwahaha PERFECT!!!
The Queen does not need senior royals going everywhere with her, she has many trusted aides who are always with her. This is a ploy to raise the profile of people like Sophie, Camilla and Kate, who will get extra brownie points by seeing out and about with the Queen.
Well, if it forces the Cambridges to get up off their asses and work more, then maybe some good can come of it. Even if they are doing it for petty reasons.
I think kate is crying at this prospect
I think the Queen is crying at the prospect too, because she doesn’t want to deal with losing Philip and having to deal with more Kate at the same time.
Um, I think you mean “Catherine” 😉 is crying
You know Kate is livid over this. She does not want to work and has made that clear. I think the only saving grace of this, as far as Kate is concerned, is being seen with the Queen.
Haha @Aphra. I was sitting here thinking “who’s Catherine?”
They’d be keen for about ten minutes and then Charles, Camilla, Anne, Sophie and Edward would end up doing it. All of whom would be better as they seem to read their briefings and have at least two thoughts to rub together in their heads.
I think we will be seeing much more of Sophie with QEII as they seem to “get on” very well and seem to enjoy each others company. Also, most importantly, Sophie will in no way over-shadow QEII.
@BayTampaBay – I agree. Most of the companionship will fall on Sophie and Anne. Anne has her own large portfolio, but she is Liz’s daughter and will step up like so many daughters do.
Lady Louise turns 18 in November. Perhaps she will be mentored by her mother to accompany the Queen. She certainly seems appropriate, if she’s willing.
Lady Louise has been kept out of the public eye her entire life, just as her younger brother has been. She will never be a working royal, much less a ‘senior royal’. Trotting her out now as Queen’s Companion would be completely inappropriate.
My thoughts, too. Ten minutes in and they will mumble something something, kids etc. and then take a long vacation. We will then see them again during mental health, maternal health and anti-bullying awareness week with no sense of irony whatsoever.
this is so on the nose. they really have no powers of introspection or empathy.
If the cambridges have to lift a finger they will run to the DM crying they won’t have time for the school run now and it’s all the sussex’s fault.
Well, I don’t think PWT and Keen could handle that workload. The Queen used to be one of the hardest working royals, which easend up considerably in the last couple of years. So maybe her minimum may reach now PWT&K’s maximum. Are they prepared for that?!
@Snuffles. I think it is more of pushing Kate out instead of them doing more work together.
I really think Baldy is gonna try for a permanent separation or divorce if he finds someone else.
I think this is a ploy to pad the Cambridges’ engagement numbers. Like a fake job at Tony Soprano’s sanitation company.
So is this just about making sure that Kate and William get plenty of photo ops with the Queen to remind everyone that they’re the future futures?
In practice though it seems like a good idea that someone accompanies her, and it’s not like William and Kate have anything else to do really. But my guess is from a practical standpoint it will be sophie that we see a lot with her.
It is a very practical idea but this is cambridge pr. Prepare yourself for articles about how impressed the queen is with kate for picking up extra “work” and how proud she is of william for behaving like a “true future king”.
I think it will be Sophie because the Queen is obviously most comfortable with her outside of Anne. We might see William accompany the Queen more as well, but I doubt that Kate will do any events with the Queen herself. Despite the media attempts, it’s obvious there isn’t much of a relationship there. And Kate wouldn’t know how to handle a more elderly person when she expects to be served herself.
I agree that the Cambridge’s may want Kate front and center as future future Queen consort and to show how much the Queen respects and likes her (so the peasants should too), but I don’t think she knows as much protocol when it comes to work and the Queen as she should after 10 years. I remember the press ripping Meghan to shreds because she didn’t know she should enter the car before the Queen, and the Queen had to show her the correct ways to working with her. But bet your buttons Meghan would have remembered these lessons and the next time(s) gotten it all correct. They can’t have Kate, after 10 years, make these same mistakes. I’m sure the press would spin it as Kate being correct in her protocol and the Queen just preferring something different but they won’t risk it.
I never understood with that car mixup why Meghan wasn’t directed to go on the opposite side to get in, leaving the Queen to enter the car on her side alone. Always puzzled me unless it was a security issue that they enter on one side.
@Nic great point. I absolutely cannot see Kate knowing how to handle things with a 95-year old: watching out for her on stairs, gently guiding her arm if necessary, etc. All of the little things that most people just do automatically. As you said Kate herself still needs people to help HER most of the time so how is she expected to assist the Queen?
Yeah my first thought was Andrew. Back in the public eye without doing his own appearances
If they bring Andrew back as a senior royal, no one can convince me that the BRF, themselves, want to destroy the monarchy.
I could see the Cambridges trying to weasel their way into accompanying the Queen on visits, but that might be too much work for them. There’s no way Charles is going to allow Andrew back into service.
I think the Midbridges will do a few events with the queen like the show ponies they are then dump Sophie in it as she is a favourite and one of the work horses of the family.
There’s no way work-shy will and kate are going to up their work load that much. They will probably demand first choice of the most high profile events and the events that count as more than one thing, so they can *look* like they are doing more.
We’re definitely going to get a lot of “Look how hard they’re working, how much they’re sacrificing, while Harry and that woman are frolicking in California!” stories.
This piece is just weird. The Queen has been working without her husband for about 4 years. I think the real reason for this is that the Queen is becoming increasingly frail and they’ve realised that she can’t do it anymore by herself. I agree that Charles has been the defacto King for awhile now but the affection for the Queen is still there so they have to keep putting her out in the public to maintain the Royal Family’s status. I think the institution is going to be in real trouble when she dies.
I agree that it doesn’t make sense since Philip retired back in 2017 and she was doing events on her own since then. If the issue is being more frail, then she needs someone comforting there.
I don’t want William moving up anytime soon.
Argree – she has been working solo for years, this is pure pr – look how caring we are and we are taking care of the qeen now so take my pic with the queen right NOW.
I definitely think it’s about associating the less popular heirs with the Queen in the last years of her life so that some of the Queen’s shine and the reverence and respect people have for her will rub off on Charles and William. I think the RF is scared. They know that there are a lot of people and countries who are interested in possibly leaving the commonwealth or even the United Kingdom, or even abolishing the monarchy, but everyone always seems to agree to wait until the Queen passes because they begrudgingly respect her. No one has that sense of loyalty to Charles of William. No one worries about upsetting them. So they need to associate Charles and William with the Queen, make it seem like she endorses them and get people used to seeing the heirs doing the monarch-type engagements. I’m not sure it’s going to work though.
The Queen has been working very happily without her husband dragging behind her. I think it was a weight off her shoulders when Philip retired. She immediately looked younger and happier doing things solo without having to worry about his needs.
I actually can’t see Will and Kate upping their game and doing more work to be there with the Queen at every engagement. They’re simply too lazy for that extra work! Unless maybe to point out that while THEY are the ones there to help the Queen, the bad brother left and isn’t doing anything for the family.
That is his main grudge, Harry was supposed to be there to “support” him, err, cover for him while he goes gardening or whatever.
Harry’s gone, so he will be bashed and Willy will get increasingly bitter. He wants the power with no work. At 40, it is time to get on with creating a mark, baldimort.
Start brushing of your shoes kate. Its time to start doing some actual work!
She will try to get out of it.
Using a just widowed 95 year old for publicity all because two clowns over 50 years her junior can’t garner major headlines and support without her. The future of the crown is secure tho. Lol, this thing is going to crumble when that old lady dies.
She did plenty of appearances without Philip so why would she need to be accompanied now? So this is either Andrew or Baldimort inserting themselves where they are not wanted or needed.
I think its like AmyBee said – the queen is getting increasingly frail and can’t keep up her workload. My guess is that we’ll start seeing things like the Queen and Anne attend an event, and the queen sits for most of it, and doesn’t walk around as much, while Anne does the tour of the factory or hospital or whatever. I think they’re using Philip’s death as a cover of sorts.
Sophie is/will become QEII’s Princess Beatrice.
I think losing her husband of 73 years is a punch to the gut. Regardless of their separate lives and homes for the last few year, she still lost the man she loved and counted on for more years than many people live. I’m not sure that can be overstated.
@Desert Lizard – this is exactly what I was thinking. If it were my mother, royal or not, I’d want to be there to support her through this.
She’s getting old. Like really old, and they’re aware that she has more limitations now.
She’s 95! Honestly senior members should have been accompanying her on more events, especially after Philip retired from public life. However, it’s one thing for her to go and do events and know that Philip is alive and doing relatively well and it’s another for her to do them solo and know that she is never going to see him again. Philip may not have been the perfect husband and who knows how many extramarital affairs he had. But as far as we know, that was the love of her life. And once a spouse passes away, especially for a couple that has been married so long, it’s a huge blow and one that people of that age don’t often recover from. Also the Queen is not as frail as people are making her out to be. She has been seen RIDING HORSES just as recently as last year. You can’t be that frail and be able to do that. But her mental state will take a hit after losing Philip and that can trigger a rapid decline in physical health.
Yes to this (as @BearcatLawyer also discusses below).
@Amelie
Yes to all you said. I also think that it’s doubly difficult because he wss the last link to their generation for her. Her Dad went when she was young, her sister and mother are gone and Phillip was always there for her. Who will understand and support her like he did?
whether good or bad he was as she said “my strength and my stay”
I also wonder if the family is worried that without Philip the Queen will have little interest in going on. The last thing this family needs right now – in the middle of a pandemic and while Brexit is screwing up the U.K. – is for her to die. They need her to continue as a symbol of stability and perseverance until conditions in the U.K. improve. Plus, there is no way they could remotely begin to justify the expense of Charles’s coronation when so many people are suffering. NHS nurses just got a huge slap in the face – a pay increase of 1% – from the Tory government. Northern Ireland is in shambles because Brexit has created a sea border, causing tariffs to be imposed on a wide variety of goods and leading to shortages, riots, and work stoppages. Now is simply not the time for Betty to exit stage left.
You see this a lot with couples who are married for decades – one dies and the other dies soon thereafter. There are studies that have shown that the grief and depression resulting from the loss of a longtime marital partner can have genuine deleterious effects on a person’s body. One Swiss doctor found that when he asked heart attack victims WHY their attacks happened, they never said things like, “I eat too many fatty foods and do not exercise enough.” They talked about recent emotional problems or traumatic events instead. His conclusion was that at least for some people, when their metaphorical hearts or feelings came under attack, they manifested as literal cardiac events.
But my money is on Edward, Sophie, and Anne to pick up the slack. The Keenbridges are far too narcissistic to step up.
As an aside, I watched the Elizabeth and Margaret documentary on Netflix last week. It gave me a whole new appreciation for Princess Margaret and her commitment to supporting her sister. She was a complicated and tragic figure in many ways, but she still worked and did her part for the Crown and country.
Yes, with the problems Northern Ireland is having due to the sea border and Scotland making noise about independence again, losing the stability of the Queen at this time would create a huge mess for the government. Hell, maybe even Wales would get in on the action. I doubt they’d be happy to have William known as the Prince of Wales.
My grandparents were married for 57 years and we were all worried about grandma for that very reason. The studies I read said that if the spouse was going to follow the deceased partner, it would almost always happen within three months. If they survive past four months, they will most likely be okay, but not always. We were very lucky with my grandma, we had her for almost a decade after.
Lady D, I think it is usually the widowers who go faster after the death of his spouse. Females usually live longer, and it also goes for widows, in comparison to widowers. There are several different possible explanations in my head, tho.
My mom lasted 3 years after my dad, she developed cancer, something changed in her that made her more vulnerable, I think, but the doctor who finally correctly diagnosed her, also said that after her 70s, she “had permission” to suffer something like this, like the age she reached was a threshold. We were so sad, and at the same time, grateful for having her until adult age.
My grandmother died two days after my grandfather. She had senile dementia and other serious health problems and lived in a nursing home, while he lived in an independent senior living place, but he visited her nearly every day and took her home some nights too. My grandfather’s death was completely unexpected; he had some health issues, but he was zooming around just fine until one day he was having a normal conversation with one of my aunts and up and died in the middle of it. Our family was insistent that my grandmother not be told he died, because it would be a terrible shock and she wouldn’t remember after an hour anyway.
Well, the pastor decided he knew better than us, and he told her. She immediately had a stroke. That led to another. And another. And to our family dropping that church like a hot potato — not that we were ever terribly religious.
She was very happy doing solo visits, she and Philip have been living separate lives for years.
The Queen doesn’t need more support doing engagements she just needs to hand over more things and spend more time enjoying life with her new puppy dogs.
So they’re expecting William and Kate to do more work? Good luck with that.
Off topic… I actually see the Queen surpassing the 99 years that PP lived.. Considering her mother was passed 100 😳😳
I am a tiny bit sad for Charles, the eternal Prince of Wales, but let the keens wait for that crown! maybe they will finally learn some resposibilities. PWT has been half working his whole life, let alone his wife.
Yes, ‘the eternal Prince’, that is a good one. I expect her to get to at least 100. But when she gets to 95 she will hand over more responsibility to Charles.
It would make sense that William and Kate (as future King & Queen) would step up and accompany her. But that would mean they’d actually have to “work” so I will believe this when I see it. I can see William doing more-but Kate? Bwahahaha. No way.
Baldimort would be an insufferable “King”. I sincerely hope the lot of them are decommissioned and he never makes it to the throne.
As for Andrew entertaining any thoughts of reinserting himself back by his mummy’s side, perhaps now might be a good time for the FBI to remind everyone Paedo Andy has still not agreed to sit down to answer their questions.
I’m sure the queen doesn’t want to be dragged down by the dead weight Cambridges.
I doubt that keen or baldy will step up in any significant way. They may try to join the most prestigious events but I doubt it. It is just too much work. Plus the queen did snub Kate at the end of the Choo choo train tour.
I think that Andrew will be her new companion. And no one will make too much of a fuss because their beloved queen just experienced a loss.
Or we may see ma Middleton become best friends with the queen!
Nooo…Charles would nip that in the bud in a hot second. Always got the feeling they just tolerate the Middletons, Kate included.
So the plan is to retire the queen and have her come out only for important occasions. I’m on board with this plan, the lady is 95, she should be relaxing in her nightgown at home. Not worrying about the power play between her son and her and her grandson. That being said if Chuck steps up Andy can say bye to his reintroduction, because Chuck isn’t going to allow that. And Walmart and Kmart should really put their big kid pants because the list of working senior royals is getting shorter and shorter and there aren’t that many more people they can hide behind and throw under the bus. Being keen will only get you so far.
This is just stating the obvious and what is probably necessary. The Queen is becoming more frail. I’m guessing the point is more on the senior royal aspect of it all. Why not just say she will always be accompanied by a family member? Working out the rollout of W&K’s seniorness…….
I think the Royals are finally seeing TQ for what she is. A 95 year old woman, frail and recently widowed. PP dying has brought it home to all of them that she’s most likely the next to go and that she’s not this stalwart figurehead so much as their Mother and Grandmother who could use their support. She is emotionally fragile no matter that the tabloids would have you believe that she’s stoic, strong, yada yada. She held her husband’s hand while he passed away. That would get to anybody.
If Charles really care about his reign/the monarchy he should find a way to put William in his place. I really don’t how they let it get to this point, William clearly doesn’t have the guts to ditch his role so it’s easy to call his bluff.
Tbh this seemed to me like rollout for Andrew to accompany his mother. I wouldnt put it past them after the media happily showed his interview without mentioning why he stepped back. Who’s going to push back on the frail widow who wants her favourite by her side?
Anyway fact that the working members team is thin on the ground shows how short sighted it was to drive the Sussexes out
I would think Charles would be with her for any important event. And there should be no need for her to do small events. Can’t the rest take care of the everyday tours and things?
I imagine it’ll be Sophie doing most of it. I’m sure Andrew will also try but the public could get annoyed and force the BRF to put him on ice again.
I think it would be fun to watch Keen try to manage appearances with Brenda. Kate will be guffawing inappropriately all over the place because she cannot pull off “resting pleasant face,” while Her Maj just pointedly looks away from her like she did at the Choo Choo Covidganza.
The Queen gave Katie Keen a straight up f u look followed by deliberate cold silence to make it as awkward as possible for OfWilliam
Is there a link to that??? I would love to see it!
@MerlinsMom – I think if you look on YouTube and look up “royal family arrives at windsor 2020” or something along those lines – it should come up – you have to wait for the part where the royals are kind of processing in front of the Queen, and William bows and Kate curtseys and then Kate pauses for a minute, like she’s waiting for the Queen to acknowledge her or something, and the Queen looks straight past her at Sophie who is next in line and smiles at her. It was actually surprisingly obvious that the Queen was trying to ignore Kate.
Yep–TQ froze Kate right out.
LOL Looked for the video and fund a small one, and a bunch of sycophants are claiming that sweet keen is so dear to the queen, it sure looked to me that she was looking at Sophie. Sick to see how even in a video just for the keens, they have Meghan in their minds, and I have no idea if after flagging some of those comments, the google/youtube people will erase the ugly comments
Many of the videos have been edited to remove that part (hmmmm), but this one gives a fairly good sense of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblyWDZ9HHM
@RedWeatherTiger thanks for link. Quite amusing. The Queen didn’t appear too bothered with William either.
OMG….I feel nauseous reading the comments under that video. People really see only what they want to see, I guess.
That means that the Keens will have to work just a bit more. It’s their moment to shine.
Not gonna let that hussy Sophie take all the spotlight.
All that work will really, really tire the poor sausages.
Am sure the Keens will be keen to make it known that they are keen to step up but the reality it will likely be Edward and/or Sophie, then Chuck for the big state occasions.
Its long been speculated that Edward will inherit his fathers Duke of Edinburgh title but let’s see what happens. Edward pretty much took over his fathers role at the DofE Awards scheme, thou Philip would sometimes turn up to give out Gold awards.
DU: I had heard about the title thing and have been thinking about this since Friday — If it is true, when would that be announced? And since PP passed, I have been thinking that if feels so creepy — PP IS the Duke of Edinburgh to me (and I am not a Brit) and I am sure to most people since he’s had the title for 70 years! If I were Edward, I would be reluctant to want that Dukedom anytime soon.
Edward won’t be getting the DofE title until his mother has died because right now Charles is the present holder. So when Charles gets to the throne, his titles merge with the crown and so the title can be given out again.
Now HM could die tomorrow but Charles and Edward might decided to wait a year after her death before creating the title again
Why would Charles be the present holder of the DoE title? wouldnt it revert to the crown?
ETA never mind I just googled. Interesting, I didnt realize it would pass to Charles like that.
(In googling I read that it has been decided definitively that it will go to Edward when Charles becomes king, the Queen apparently approved this in 1999).
Well I heard that Charles is now the Duke of Edinburgh.
This is hilarious,the keenbridges don’t want to have to do extra work by accompanying the Q yet they will have no choice, however it’s a kind of win for them, they can tag along on her engagements and do nothing but hover in the back but still claim it to their end of year numbers,
No long-range thinkers or planners are working in any of the palaces. The Queen is fragile. Phillip’s death just exacerbates a problem no one was willing to talk about. Instead of overreacting to the selection of a marriage partner, they should have been focusing on how to use the talent of the new member.
Honestly, all I can think is, doesn’t that 95-year old woman just want to take a nap?? I’d like to take a nap. I’m not work-shy, nor am I 95, but I’d still like a nap. Why doesn’t she take naps?
The queen never looks please to see the keenbridges
All of the news of their shenanigans gets passed to her, she knows what they are like.
They said the same thing when Philip retired, and yet it didn’t happen. If she is accompanied by anyone, I see Sophie jumping at the chance.
That tells me she doesn’t plan to be in public that often going forward.
I see this as setting up to put pressure on Harry. Or a way to rub his nose in his Not a Senior Royal status.
Um….what is changing, exactly? Phillip hasn’t accompanied Liz to any sort of engagement in years, since he retired from public life. Life will continue on as it has been. So much drama for no reason. And the Cambridges ain’t doing sh*t, as per usual.
You GUYS! William is *walking ahead of the Queen* in that pic!!!
Quick, someone call the Protocol Police!!!
The Queen was usually escorted by Prince Andrew after his father retired. Most likely he will return to public life to continue in that capacity.