These Extra Special Family Outings Prove the Queen Is on the Mend
After weeks of uncertainty about Queen Elizabeth’s health due to her sudden hiatus from public life last month, royal watchers were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Buckingham Palace recently confirmed that the Queen had attended the joint christening of her great-grandchildren, August Brooksbank and Lucas Tindall.
The double celebration is unprecedented for the royal family. But Princess Eugenie and her cousin Zara Tindall hatched the thoughtful plan after deciding to streamline their own separately planned events due to their grandmother’s recent health woes.
“The Queen was thrilled to join her family for such a special occasion, and was grateful that Zara and Eugenie planned a joint event to make things easier for her to attend,” a source says. “She’s looking forward to getting back to public life soon.”
The christening was held at the Royal Chapel of All Saints so the Queen only had to travel 15 minutes from Windsor Castle. She has been resting on doctor’s advice after suffering back strain and this was one of the few events she’s attended in a month.
“She’ll likely keep it quiet for the rest of the year and enjoy Christmas with her family, and then we’ll see her back in action ahead of her platinum jubilee in June,” noted the insider. In another sweet nod to the respect and love both granddaughters hold for the Queen and her late husband, both chose “Philip” as their babies’ middle names.
Despite feeling under the weather in the past month, palace insiders say that’s come with an upside for the Queen. She’s been spending hours of downtime with her great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte. With reports the 6-year-old’s parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, are looking to move to Windsor, insiders say it’s allowed them to drop their middle child off for some quality time with “Gan-Gan.”
“Charlotte is smart as a whip and she keeps the Queen entertained for hours,” says a source. “Her Majesty hasn’t been moving far, so Charlotte has been hanging out reading with her and watching cartoons with her on her iPad. The Queen hasn’t laughed like this since Philip was well — it’s been magical to see.”
Our insider says the Queen “has a real soft spot for Charlotte.” She reminds her so much of herself as a girl, in the looks department.
“Charlotte is a lot more gregarious than she ever was as a child — in terms of personality, Charlotte makes her think of her cheeky younger sister, Margaret,” they say. “Charlotte loves her time with the Queen and is always asking her parents when she can go to Gan-Gan’s.”
This article originally appeared on our sister site, Now to Love.
