A royal biographer says the COVID-19 pandemic has "effectively ended" the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and "practically" put her son Prince Charles on the throne.
Andrew Morton, author of Diana, Her True Story, says the coronavirus has done more damage to the monarchy than Oliver Cromwell, who briefly overthrew King Charles in the 1600s.
His comments follow reports that the Queen, aged 94, could remain in self-isolation for months and may never return to frontline duties.
Morton told The Telegraph it is "terribly sad" but he couldn't see how the Queen can resume her job.
"The COVID-19 virus isn't going away soon and will be with us for months, if not years."
He added it's a real shame the Queen can no longer risk being out in public.
"She has always loved getting out and meeting people but she can't take the risk."
A royal source told The Sunday Times the Queen intends to follow all the advice regarding COVID-19.
"'The Queen won't do anything which goes against the advice of people in her [age] category and she's going to take all the appropriate advice... she'd want to be seen to be being responsible in her actions.
The UK currently has 294,402 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 41,500 deaths.
