Queen to increase workload after losing husband; will be accompanied by another royal for birthday parade

Queen Elizabeth II is planning to increase her workload after over a year of staying in a "safety bubble" due to the coronavirus pandemic during which she rarely carried out any public engagements.

During the quarantine period, the Queen was in isolation at Windsor Castle with the late Prince Philip, and it was believed to be the longest time they spent together in their 73 years of marriage. However, after the demise of the Prince Consort last month and a subsequent period of mourning, the Queen's diary has rarely been so light.

Now that the United Kingdom has started easing restrictions on public and social activity, the fully-vaccinated monarch is keen to go out and immerse herself in her royal duties once again. Although she had also learned to carry out virtual engagements last year after a bit of a struggle with technology, the 95-year-old would rather meet her followers in person.

"There is a strong desire from Her Majesty to get back out and about," a royal insider told the Daily Telegraph, as per Royal Central.

The monarch recently carried out her first public visit since her husband's death when she arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base to send off the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, which will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, and Singapore over the next 28 weeks. She can be seen in several other high-profile engagements over the coming weeks, including a meeting with President Joe Biden of the United States and other world leaders ahead of the G7 summit. She is also expected to carry out a week-long visit to Scotland.

She will also be in attendance to see her annual birthday parade "Trooping The Colour" on June 12, which was held in a scaled-down socially distanced event at Windsor Castle last year due to the pandemic. Though the Queen had to sit alone at her husband's funeral on April 17 due to the social distancing guidelines, she will be accompanied by a relative for the parade so she doesn't feel alone.

Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, a first cousin of the Queen through their fathers, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and King George VI, will be the monarch's "plus one" at the parade. The Duke had previously accompanied his cousin at her 2013 birthday celebration as Prince Philip was recovering from a surgery back then.