December 14, 2021
The life and enduring legacy of the Queen, 95, as she enters her Platinum Jubilee year is the cover story of the winter issue of PEOPLE Royals
(NEW YORK) - Queen Elizabeth may have been forced due to health and pandemic reasons to spend much of the last year at home at Windsor Castle, but she has a close-knit crew of friends and loyal staffers that she can call on.
The Queen, 95, who lost her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, in April, and has also had several close friends die in recent months, has an intimate "bubble" of people to whom she's close.
"The Queen can go from being magisterial to chatty with those she trusts. She has good judgment once she trusts people – and once she does it is very easy," says a royal insider in the winter issue of PEOPLE Royals, out Friday, Dec. 17.
In the early summer, she began having friends to Windsor for lunches and dinner—and enjoyed watching TV late into the evening with some of them. Ladies-in-waiting like Lady Susan Hussey, whom she's known for six decades, and friends like the Lady Annabel Whitehead, Lady Elizabeth Leeming, Prince Charles's nanny Mabel Anderson and Susan Rhodes are all reported to be in her inner circle.
She is rarely alone and also has companionship from her discreet and loyal staff like dresser and close aide Angela Kelly and footman Paul Whybrew.
Those staffers within the "bubble" keeping the Queen from COVID find it to be "a cheerful place," the insider adds. "Those who are in it cherish their place. They are a support for the Queen and someone that they can have a laugh with and she can talk about the issues of the day."
She also receives regular visits from son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who live a short drive away at Bagshot, and her youngest son Prince Andrew, who lives nearby in Windsor Great Park at Royal Lodge.
Life is changing though. Gone is her daily cocktail, friends confirm — though she hasn't given it up for good, and it wasn't on medical advice as it was a habit that was already curtailed before Prince Philip's passing.
Since mid-October, when she canceled a trip to Northern Ireland on doctors' advice and spent a night in the hospital for testing, she has been based at Windsor Castle. She was able to attend the joint christenings of two of her great-grandsons late last month.
Soon, government COVID rules permitting, she will relocate with her close staff to Sandringham House in Norfolk, where she will entertain her family for the first Christmas since losing her beloved Philip.
For more, pick up a copy of PEOPLE Royals, on newsstands nationwide Dec. 17.
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