The Queen has ‘wheelchair-friendly’ lift fitted at Balmoral cottage after quitting Buckingham Palace for good

The Queen has had a wheelchair-friendly lift installed at Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral estate.

• The Queen, 95, is planning to spend more time at her favourite Scottish cottage
• It comes as the monarch is reportedly increasingly struggling with mobility 
• This follows royal news that Duchess Camilla is suffering from long COVID side effects

Concerns regarding how the Queen's physical 'limitations' could impact her work schedule ahead of Platinum Jubilee celebrations increase daily. So news that she's had a, “wheelchair-friendly” Lifton Trio lift fitted is no surprise.

The lift is able to carry three adults or a passenger in a wheelchair — meaning the Queen will be able get to her bedroom without having to use the stairs.

Her Majesty usually stays at Craigowan Lodge, which is on the Balmoral Castle estate, twice a year — every April and for two weeks in the summer.

The cottage has also been fitted with a £20,000 lift ahead of her plans to spend more time at the retreat in the Scottish Highlands.

A new security gate, a state-of-the-art intercom system and a string of CCTV cameras are also due to be installed at the lodge.

A Balmoral insider told The Sun: “For many years we have thought it would be the perfect place for the Queen to spend more time when she’s older. It's one of her favourite places in the country.

“With the proper lift and now this new security, it can effectively be sealed off so she can spend much more time there quietly in her late nineties.”

A royal insider recently claimed that the Queen will likely reduce her work hours as she approaches her 96th birthday next month.

The royal icon has continued to head the Crown with dignity and vigor in spite of her advanced age, becoming the first-ever British monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee in February. 

However, The Queen has canceled more appearances due to illness in the last few months than she has in her entire royal career, suggesting she no longer has the stamina to maintain her historically hectic schedule.

It's even been predicted that the monarch may not attend her late husband Prince Philip's memorial service at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, in light of her recent health issues. 

“You have to be realistic. [She is] just weeks away from 96, she has accepted her own limitations," Russell Myers, Daily Mirror Royal Editor, told The Royal Beat. 

"She’s having issues moving around, [and is] described by people at the Palace as having good days and less good days." 

He added, "I don’t think we’ll ever see her step back, but we probably will see her less and less. Will she make Prince Philip’s memorial service in a few days? That’s in the balance."