Buckingham Palace announced today that the Queen tested positive for COVID. Fortunately, she is only experiencing mild symptoms. The palace said she will continue with light duties at Windsor Castle this coming week.

The Queen is 95 years old. She celebrated her 70th year on the throne on February 6. There are official celebrations planned to commemorate the longest-reigning monarch. The Queen took it easy for several months recently on her doctor’s orders in preparation of this year’s activities. There has been some concern about her health as both Prince Charles and his wife Camilla tested positive for COVID. Her own family has not exactly made recent years and months easy for her. The latest scandals of an investigation into Prince Charles’ alleged involvement in a ‘cash for honours’ charity probe and Prince Andrew’s involvement in the nefarious and illegal actions of Jeffrey Epstein have to take a toll. Randy Andy had to turn to his mother for financial assistance to settle a lawsuit against him from his days with Epstein.

Queen Elizabeth is triple vaccinated. The palace released a brief statement. “She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines.” The guidelines in place right now include self-isolation for those who test positive for COVID. That is about to change, though. As of the coming week, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, people who test positive for COVID will not have to self-isolate. The U.K. government has announced it is time to begin “living with COVID”. The plan also includes scaling back on COVID testing. The new plan moving forward will be announced tomorrow.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said ending all of the legal restrictions brought in to curb the spread of the virus will let people in the U.K. “protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.” He is expected to lay out details of the plan in Parliament on Monday.

“I’m not saying that we should throw caution to the winds, but now is the moment for everybody to get their confidence back,” Johnson told the BBC in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“We’ve reached a stage where we think you can shift the balance away from state mandation, away from banning certain courses of action, compelling certain courses of action, in favor of encouraging personal responsibility.”

Liberal politicians in the Labour Party. are dragging their feet about lifting restrictions. 85% of people in Britain have received two vaccinations and almost 2/3 have received a booster vaccination.

Wes Streeting, health spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, accused Johnson of “declaring victory before the war is over.”

Johnson’s Conservative government lifted most virus restrictions in January, scrapping vaccine passports for venues and ending mask mandates in most settings apart from hospitals in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own public health rules, also have opened up, although more slowly.

A combination of high vaccination rates in the U.K. and the milder omicron variant means easing restrictions didn’t lead to a surge in hospitalizations and deaths. Both are falling, though the U.K. still has Europe’s highest coronavirus toll after Russia, with more than 160,000 recorded deaths.

The Queen will continue with light duties at Windsor Castle, with public events on the horizon.

The queen is also scheduled to attend a string of in-person public engagements in the coming weeks, including audiences with politicians and diplomats, a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2 and the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14.

Public celebrations of the Platinum Jubilee are scheduled for June, with festivities including a military parade, a day of horse-racing and neighborhood parties over a June 2-5 long weekend.

Royal watchers know that the plans for her funeral and for Prince Charles to succeed her after her death have been in the news. Does anyone, besides Camilla, want Prince Charles as the royal in the top spot? He’s a wannabe woke wienie and it is reported that his coronation will be downsized yet will check off all the identity boxes of cultural inclusion into the ceremony. You don’t have to be a big supporter of the monarchy to appreciate the life of Queen Elizabeth. She has been a stalwart monarch who has seen the U.K. through seven decades now. With Prince Charles waiting in the wings, long live Queen Elizabeth.