The Queen will miss out on her annual May visit to Balmoral this week.
Her Majesty usually travels to Scotland at this time of year to check on her 50,000-acre estate and, in normal times, worships at nearby Crathie Church on the last Sunday of the month.
With the 94-year-old monarch shielding at Windsor Castle with the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, because of Covid-19 and with travel restrictions still in place her, few days in the Highlands have been scuppered.
Her spokeswoman said: “The Queen will be at Windsor Castle for the foreseeable future.”
But it is understood no decision has yet been taken on whether she will visit Scotland in July and August – by which time travel restrictions may have been lifted.
One local said: “The Queen takes a keen interest in the running of the estate so she will be disappointed to have to forgo her May visit. But she won’t give up on her summer holidays easily. So never say never. We have not been told anything different”.
Meanwhile Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are still self-isolating at Birkhall, their home on the Balmoral Estate.
In late March the heir to the throne was diagnosed with the virus by NHS in Aberdeenshire shortly after arriving in Scotland.
The Duchess tested negative.
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