The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Queen knights 100-year-old in rare appearance
Queen Elizabeth II popped out of her royal bubble Friday to knight Tom Moore in a ceremony on the outdoor grounds of Windsor Castle, as the royal family seeks to stay relevant by providing inspiration during the coronavirus epidemic.
What happened?
Moore, a 100-year-old World War II veteran widely known as “Captain Tom,” won the heart of Britain after he raised more than $40 million for National Health Service charities by doing laps across his garden.
There was some speculation Friday the queen and/or Moore might don masks for the ceremony, but they did not. Instead, the medal-bedecked Moore was shown marching double-time across the mowed lawn of the castle’s quadrangle with the aid of his trusty walker. He then stood before the queen, who touched his shoulders with a very long sword that once belonged to her father, George VI, and which provided some social distancing.
The queen stepped closer to her new knight to hand him a medal and chat.
“Ready and raring to go for what is a very special day,” Moore wrote before the ceremony on his Twitter account. He told the BBC he would not kneel before the queen “because if I did I’ll never get up again.”
It was the first investiture and the queen’s first semipublic appearance since the start of the pandemic, which has posed unique challenges for the 94-yearold monarch and a royal family that is in the business of bringing people together.
“One of the queen’s mantras is, ‘I need to be seen to be believed,’ said Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine. “She knows she has to be visual. She’s made a big effort to be as visible as she can while adhering to government guidelines.”
First public appearance since virus
Before Friday, these appearances had come in the form of Zoom calls and speeches aired on television. The palace released pictures of the queen riding a horse on the grounds of Windsor Castle and a separate photo of her with her husband, Prince Philip, on his 99th birthday.
For the past four months, the pair have been self-isolating at Windsor Castle.
The Court Circular, the royal family’s official record of royal duties, looks markedly different than it did only a few months ago, with many of the royal visits with world leaders, ambassadors and other notables taking place via phone call or video link.
Prince Charles, 72, caught the virus in March, but the ruddy-faced outdoorsman quickly bounced back. He went on to urge his furloughed subjects to head to the fields to pick berries and other crops, while the usual Bulgarian and Romanian migrant workers were having trouble getting to Britain.
When Charles traveled to London last month to attend a ceremony with President Emmanuel Macron, he greeted the French leader with a namaste gesture instead of a traditional handshake.
When Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, held her first “engagement” post lockdown — at a garden center near her family’s country home in Norfolk — she was pictured talking to staff at some distance. When her husband, Prince William, popped into a nearby bakery, he was sure to use a lot of hand sanitizer.
No royal has yet been pictured wearing a face mask, but that may be only a matter of time, as the government is making face coverings mandatory in shops at the end of next week.
The queen’s other son, Prince Andrew, has mostly hidden from view for months — not for fear of the virus but because he withdrew from royal duties after giving a disastrous BBC interview about his long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
And Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex? The couple quit their palace jobs in a well-reported huff and jetted off with Baby Archie to Los Angeles, where they have spent the lockdown living in an $18 million, 25,000-square-foot Beverly Ridge Estates mansion owned by actor and entertainment mogul Tyler Perry, according to the Daily Mail.
Commentators have been busy debating the impact the pandemic has had on the royal family and its future.
Virus’s impact on royal family
Royal coffers are expected to take a massive hit this year, even though the palace recently launched its own $50 “smallbatch dry gin,” which sold out in 8 hours online and is on back order until September. The Royal Collection Trust, a charity that relies on income from visitors to royal residences, said it’s predicting losses of $37 million and has offered voluntary redundancy to its 650 staff.
Andrew Morton, a British author and journalist who wrote an explosive book about the late Princess Diana, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper “the brutal truth is that [Queen Elizabeth’s] reign is effectively over. COVID19 has done more damage to the monarchy than Oliver Cromwell.”
“Corona has practically put Charles on the throne,” Morton said. “It’s terribly sad, but I can’t see how the queen can resume her job.”
Others disagreed. Robert Lacey, a royal biographer, said the queen has “played a blinder” during the pandemic and referenced her video calls, offering a British expression for “doing something exceptionally well.”
‘One of the queen’s mantras is, “I need to be seen to be believed.” She knows she has to be visual. She’s made a big effort to be as visible as she can while adhering to government guidelines.’ Ingrid Seward Editor of Majesty Magazine