Royal Experts Make Bold Prediction About The Queen's Future Engagements
If you think your day job is hard, try being the Queen of England. Your life is defined by duty and tradition, as fans of "The Crown" know, and Queen Elizabeth has been bearing that workload for over 70 years.
As queen, she must lead the country, show up to royal events, meet with foreign leaders, and manage her chaotic and sometimes scandalous family. This has become even more difficult for Elizabeth in the past few years. She has had to deal with the fallout of Prince Harry's move to America, as well as her son Prince Andrew's fall from grace amid sexual assault allegations. Her husband, Prince Phillip, passed away in May 2021 and since then, Queen Elizabeth's official appearances have become few and far between. She recently announced that for the first time ever, she would not attend her annual garden parties due to her deteriorating health and mobility issues.
Despite her health issues problems, 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth has no plans to retire from public life anytime soon, but royal watchers may be seeing less of her in the future. Many questions remain as to what Elizabeth's schedule will look like moving forward. According to royal experts, her most recent appearance might hold some clues.
Queen Elizabeth is hard to predict
Like most royals, Queen Elizabeth follows a strict schedule. Her appearances at various state and charity events are often confirmed months ahead of time, but as her health varies day by day, this tradition may change. The queen surprised her people on May 17 when she showed up to open the newest line on the London underground, the Elizabeth line, which is named for her, per BBC.
It seemed unlikely the Queen would attend the opening amid a bout of Covid and other health issues. However, she delighted her people by showing up at the last minute. According to onlookers, she appeared happy and healthy.
Daily Mail journalist Victoria Murphy, who has written a book about the Queen, says that it's likely Windsor Castle will stop announcing the Queen's appearances ahead of time. "The Queen looking on great form out and about today," Murphy wrote on Twitter. "It's clear that confirming her attendance at engagements only at the last minute will now be the norm." Journalist Omid Scobie tweeted a photo of the actual press release from Buckingham palace confirming Elizabeth's attendance, describing this as the "new normal."
As Queen Elizabeth's public appearances become more sporadic, she's been leaning on her heirs. In May, she called on Prince William to visit the UAE on her behalf to offer condolences at the recent death of their president. The same month her son Prince Charles also delivered the Queen's traditional speech to open Parliament.