Does This Make Any Sense to You? Me Neither.

“Silent dignity of The Queen: Her Majesty cuts a lonely figure at Philip’s funeral as Covid regulations force her to wear a mask and sit alone,” read the headline at the Daily Mail on Saturday, above a picture of the bereaved queen sitting alone in a pew during her husband’s funeral in Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel. “Prince Philip Is Laid to Rest as Queen Sits Alone to Set Example,” read the Time magazine headline.

“Following strict social distancing rules during the pandemic, the queen set an example even in grief, sitting apart from family members arranged around the church,” the Daily Mail reported. “Other royals who are in family bubbles sat together.”

The queen was accompanied to the funeral by Lady Susan Hussey, her lady-in-waiting. “During the past year she joined the Queen and Philip in HMS Bubble as one of about 20 staff who cared for the royal couple in lockdown at Windsor Castle.”

“Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen will wear a mask for the duration of the services and be seated by herself,” wrote Town & Country. “Because of current coronavirus restrictions, all guests who are not members of the same household must sit two meters (roughly six feet) apart.”

“The Queen and the late Prince Philip had been in a bubble with some members of their household for the last year and so the monarch was not eligible to join a support bubble with other members of her family,” CNN helpfully explains.

[Aside: She’s the queen. She doesn’t need permission nor “eligibility” to do anything. In earlier times the British sovereign would have had such contumacious subjects beheaded]

For members only: I Can’t Even Anymore With St. Anthony of Covid’s Vaccine Recommendations

So the 94-year-old monarch bid farewell to her beloved husband of 73 years masked and alone in a church pew— without the reassuring squeeze of a hand or an encouraging word from a family member whispered into her ear.

But why? The queen has been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. If these vaccines are as effective as we’re told they are, why on earth would she need to wear a mask, let alone social distance from family members?

And it gets worse. Both Prince Charles and Prince William, the queen’s son and grandson respectively, have recovered from COVID-19 infections. And Charles and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, have both been vaccinated. Why could not Charles have sat with his mother? What kind of son leaves his mother alone at one of the lowest moments of her life?

And how much do you want to bet they checked vaccination cards before admitting anyone to the funeral?

This is nothing more than kabuki theater. If the queen wanted to set an “example” for her people, she’d shed the mask and sit with her family to signal her confidence in the efficacy of the vaccines. Instead, she’s signaling that the vaccine makes no difference. While people want to blame anti-vaccers and conservative pundits for what has been called “vaccine hesitancy,” the blame ought to be laid squarely at the feet of those who continue to mask and social distance despite being fully vaccinated or having recovered from the virus. How many people will lose their lives as a result of the mixed messages being sent by world leaders and health “experts”? This insanity needs to stop.