Especially during the pandemic, I’ve always had a hard time understanding why the Queen keeps moving around so much. In 2020, palace aides and royal protection made Prince Philip move out of his beloved Wood Farm. They forced him to move to Windsor Castle, and he was reportedly really mad about it. Then that summer, the Queen and Philip traveled to Balmoral like a pandemic wasn’t raging. She also went to Balmoral last summer, and she’s been moving (or being moved) between Sandringham and Windsor Castle constantly over the past year. We’ve been told endlessly that she has these terrible mobility issues and that she’s unable to do any in-person events… so why is she being moved constantly? It’s the weirdest thing. Anyway, the Queen is back in Sandringham for her birthday week. She was just there in February!
The Queen is to spend her 96th birthday tomorrow at her beloved late husband’s home at Sandringham. The monarch will travel to the Norfolk estate by helicopter today and stay at Wood Farm – the ‘modest’ farmhouse that Prince Philip made his home following his retirement from public life – until early next week. It is expected she will be visited by family and friends over the next few days to celebrate in a typically ‘low-key’ way.
While in Norfolk, she is likely to spend time visiting her Royal Stud and being driven around her 20,000-acre estate, which was extensively modernised by Philip and more recently Prince Charles, who has taken over its running.
Buckingham Palace is not planning any kind of major public engagement to mark her birthday but there will be tributes from family members and the organisations she has been involved with. Her short holiday will be taken as an encouraging sign given her recent health and mobility issues which have seen her forced to pull out of a string of engagements. She has no major confirmed engagements in her diary and is not even sure what events to mark her Platinum Jubilee in June she will be in a position to commit to.
They always make it sound like the Queen was constantly with Philip at Wood Farm when he retired there in 2017. This was not the case! She would maybe spend a week with him at Wood Farm every six months, if that. When Philip lived at Wood Farm, Penelope Knatchbull was his more regular companion. But I do imagine that the Queen likes it there – it’s understood that Philip made some renovations to it, and other renovations were made during his retirement years, to ensure that it was a comfortable and easy place for old bones. Not a lot of stairways, wide passages, soft carpets, and I would imagine everything is handicap-accessible. But again… the Queen is likely ripping through Windsor Castle on her fancy Mercedes golf cart. Why move her? Also: the Queen has already been moved! She was taken to Sandringham by helicopter earlier today.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Queen Elizabeth II leaves Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence, after a reception with representatives from local community groups to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659601837, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon 
Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659601877, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon 
Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659601975, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon
Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659602010, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon 
Queen Elizabeth II leaves Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence, after a reception with representatives from local community groups to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659635986, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon 
Queen Elizabeth II during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence, with representatives from local community groups to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659636049, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / AvalonncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcG5jZoZ3e9CunJ6mj5q5qsbAm5ytoI%2BpvLC3vpqWoZ2cnrCwvNOeqZisn5TAorrDq6Cnn5iWuqCyzquWoZ2ilK%2BqvtOhm5qxj6yypreO