Queen and Prince Philip still to take summer break in Balmoral amid coronavirus pandemic: report

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are still planning to head to Balmoral for their annual summer break despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Her Majesty, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, who have been "shielding" at Windsor Castle since March, will reportedly make their way to their Scottish summer home via helicopter.

While there's been no announcement of dates, it's understood they will head north on August 1, when the UK government plans to end the strict restrictions for the over-70s.

"Preparations are well underway," a royal insider told The Sun, contrary to earlier reports this year's trip wouldn't be going ahead.

"Everything will be checked and double-checked to ensure there is no risk.

"But it has also helped planning that Scotland has been free of coronavirus deaths for almost a week now."

The Queen has spent three months at Balmoral every summer of her 68-year reign.

Until last month, Prince Charles and Camilla had been seeing out lockdown at Birkhall, their residence on the Balmoral Estate.

The Queen headed to Windsor Castle where she normally spends the Easter break but has been there 15 weeks now - even celebrating Prince Philip's big birthday in isolation there.

Her Majesty has been surrounded by less staff than usual during this period, with two teams of 12 working across a three-week shift rotation basis.

During the global shutdowns, the monarch continued her work from home like many others around the world and even took part in her very first video conference engagement.