THE Queen is locked down at Windsor Castle with 22 members of staff in what a top aide has dubbed “HMS Bubble”, The Sun on Sunday can reveal. The team have said goodbye to their families for the duration of isolation. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates The measures […]
THE Queen is locked down at Windsor Castle with 22 members of staff in what a top aide has dubbed “HMS Bubble”, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
The team have said goodbye to their families for the duration of isolation.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The measures have been revealed in an astonishing memo to staff by Master of the Household Tony Johnstone-Burt, a former Royal Navy officer.
Courtiers moved Her Majesty, 94, to Windsor from Buckingham Palace to see out the pandemic in safety with Prince Philip, 98.
Her isolation at Windsor Castle has been compared with a long deployment at sea where sailors are separated from their families for several months.
In his morale-boosting memo to 500 Palace staff, Vice-Admiral Johnstone-Burt called the operation HMS Bubble.
He said teamwork, a regular routine and a clear objective were essential to surviving the lockdown.
He wrote: “I’m sure that we shall emerge as a stronger, more considerate and more resilient Royal Household team as a result and able to do our duty for the Queen.”
Prince Philip was flown from Sandringham when the lockdown began. The couple, who have been married 72 years, are being looked after by their favourite servants.
An insider said: “Her senior staff, including her private secretary Sir Edward Young, and his assistants have all moved into the castle.
“They won’t be seeing their families because no risks can be taken and they can’t go in and out.
“The most important thing is to protect the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh from the virus.
“If something happened to them it doesn’t bear thinking about.”
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The source said the Queen and Prince Philip had heard the phrase “HMS Bubble” and found it “amusing”.
The Duke thought it was hilarious, especially as he was in the Navy himself and years ago was often called ‘Big Bubble’.”
In the 1950s and ’60s Greece-born Philip had the nickname as bubble and squeak is Cockney rhyming slang for Greek.
The Queen has not seen any members of her family since she started isolating last month, even though sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward live nearby.
However she has kept in contact by phone and insiders say she has become “a dab hand” at Skype and Zoom to speak to relatives and friends.
She famously promised “we will meet again” in her four-minute message recorded under strict health conditions and broadcast to the nation on April 5.
Mr Johnstone-Burt, 62, a dad of five and dog lover, is said to be a “favourite” of the Queen who admires his “can-do” attitude.
He was appointed as Master in 2013 and is in charge of a massive team of staff covering catering, housekeeping, entertainment and maintenance.
He is also overseeing a £370million, ten-year refit of Buckingham Palace.
He hit the headlines last September when he was involved with an “eyeball to eyeball” confrontation with Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace.
Aides said the spat was over a double-booked room which Andrew wanted to use for his Pitch@Palace organisation.
Ironically both Andrew and Johnstone-Burt served as helicopter pilots during the Falklands War in 1982.
A footman who walks the Queen’s dogs tested positive for coronavirus last month and was sent home, along with a hundred other workers.
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on private arrangements.
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A No10 spokesman said: “The NHS is doing a fantastic job and the nation will want to find a way to say thank you when we have defeated this virus.” SAS hero Andy McNab added: “The award of a George Cross would show an emotional appreciation.”
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