It was previously revealed that the Queen will not be returning to Buckingham Palace following Prince Philip’s death, and now, sources are beginning to understand why. According to a recent report by HELLO! Magazine, the 95-year-old monarch may have never wished to live at the palace to begin with.

On Friday, May 7, HELLO! shared a quote from royal biography The Firm, where author Penny Juror notes the Queen’s early disapproval of living at Buckingham Palace. “None of them wanted to go,” the excerpt read. “They loved Clarence House; it was a family home, but Winston Churchill, who was then Prime Minister, insisted upon it.” Despite this, the Queen did spend the next several decades living in the palace’s private quarters. But it was her part-time home of Windsor Castle that took on a special significance for her. The 13-acre royal residence, located in Berkshire, was a place to spend weekends and holidays—and later, it became Prince Philip’s final home.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away at the age of 99 on April 9, spent his last moments at Windsor Castle among the Queen and family. According to The Telegraph, Philip enjoyed his final days with a blanket on his lap and the sun on his face on the private grounds of the residence.

While bittersweet, the Duke of Edinburgh’s peaceful passing at Windsor certainly adds even more sentimental value to his shared home with the Queen—so it’s no surprise that Her Majesty may be staying there for good. As a royal source told The Daily Mail in April, the Queen is set to make Windsor her main home, at least until safety restrictions ease.

Meanwhile, an insider revealed to the British newspaper that “There is a desire to get Buckingham Palace up and running again as a working palace, but only if all the relevant advice suggests that it is appropriate to do so.” As such, it’s likely the Queen will simply “commute” to London for royal engagements as needed, the Sunday Times reports.

Prince Philip Revealed by Ingrid Seward

Image: Courtesy of Atria Books.

For more about Prince Philip’s life, check out Ingrid Seward’s biography about the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip Revealed. Seward, a Majesty magazine editor who has been covering the British royal family for decades, unravels the “enigma” that we knew as Prince Philip. From his early childhood in Paris and his mother’s battle with schizophrenia to his military service in World War II, Seward covers topics that many royal followers may not know about—or haven’t seen on The Crown. The book also discusses how Prince Philip was “initially distrusted” by the royal court before he found his place in Buckingham Palace.

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