Queen Elizabeth II is seen after unveiling a plaque to officially open a new Energy Analysis Center
Salisbury, United Kingdom:
Queen Elizabeth II made her first public visit outside a royal residence since the start of the coronavirus epidemic on Thursday, visiting a top-secret research lab but appearing without a face mask.
The 94-year-old monarch and her grandson Prince William visited the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Porton Down, south-west England, which has helped study Covid-19.
“He’s doubling up again,” the queen remarked, discussing the current second wave. When told it was on the rise, she said, “Well, I guess that was planned?”
“Predict ma’am, yes,” replied Professor Tim Atkins, who coordinated Dstl’s response, to which the monarch replied, “With all these horrible new things …”
The Queen and William did not wear a face mask, but arrived separately and stayed two meters apart, while aides said the 48 people who were to come into close contact with the Royal Family had been tested for the coronavirus.
It was the monarch’s first public engagement outside one of her homes – where she has had a reduced household staff known as “HMS Bubble” – since she attended a Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey on March 9.
As the coronavirus swept across the UK, she and her husband Prince Philip, 99, first retreated to Windsor Castle in west London, as a precaution due to their age.
They then spent time at his residences in Balmoral, north-east Scotland, and Sandringham, east England, before returning to Windsor last week.
The Queen made two televised addresses to the nation at the start of the outbreak, which has killed more than 43,000 people in Britain – the highest death toll in Europe.
In Porton Down, the Queen and Prince William also met with staff involved in identifying Novichok as the nerve agent used to attempt to kill Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the nearby town of Salisbury in 2018.
Skripal and her daughter Yulia survived the attack, but a homeless woman who came into contact with a bottle of perfume that allegedly contained the nerve agent died four months later.
Britain and its allies blamed Russia and the incident prompted a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western nations. Moscow has denied any involvement.
During the visit, the Queen officially opened the New Energy Analysis Center, a center for research into explosive materials.
She and William were to see displays of weapons and tactics used in counterintelligence.
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