Queen Elizabeth II Retreats to Late Prince Philip’s Cottage for Reflection

The Queen has made a touching journey from Windsor Castle to Sandringham for a stay at the modest Wood Farm cottage.

The five bedroom cottage is where the late Prince Philip lived following his retirement from public life and is where the Queen and her beloved husband could relax together.

This visit is especially poignant as it is the first time the Queen has returned to the house since Philip's death.

For years, living like royalty has been the phrase by which ordinary people have focused their hopes and dreams.

However, with the Queen's decision to spend the next two weeks away from the splendour of Windsor Castle in the modest surroundings of the cottage on the Sandringham estate, that aspiration may not seem quite so inviting.

From the simple furnished sitting room where she liked to put a log on the fire, to the kitchen where she can often be found doing the washing up, this is the most unlikely of royal residencies, but it is just the way the Queen likes it.

Every time she walks through the front door of Wood Farm, it is said that she feels as though she is coming home.

It has been that way since the late 1960s when she and Prince Philip had the idea of turning what had been the home of the Sandringham resident doctor into a weekend boathold.

Wood Farm offered the couple a chance of escapism that contrasted with their busy public life.

Away from Buckingham Palace, many staff and servants, the pair embraced a peaceful and domestic lifestyle as any regular married couple might at the humbler home.

According to the Times, the Queen even enjoyed lending a hand in the kitchen during her stays, and the two were often pictured together in the earlier years of their marriage, visiting the horses and fishing at the ponds on the estate.

The Prince is known to have spent many hours of his later life at the cottage painting, reading and riding his beloved carriages, and when the Duke of Edinburgh stood down from public duties in 2017, it was where he chose to spend his retirement.

The Grade II listed Wood Farm, located on a secluded part of the Queen's Sandringham estate looking out to sea, has long been a boathole for the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip.

It is where the Queen, Philip and their four children went to relax for more than 50 years.

And of course, it is where Philip made his retirement home in his twilight years, with the Queen's blessing.

The Queen was known to cook and even do dishes while she was staying there.

It is now the place Her Majesty, now a widow, has chosen to go for a bit of privacy and reflection after a traumatic 12 months.

The Queen's trip comes just weeks after she stripped her son Prince Andrew of his military titles and learned grandson Prince Harry was launching a legal battle against her government over his security.

Speaking to the Mirror, royal biographer Robert Jobson, author of the book Prince Philip Century, explained it has been a place of retreat for the Queen.

With its simple furnishings and open fires, it is a lot less formal than life at Windsor, Buckingham Palace and even Balmoral, although it is spacious enough.

When Philip was there, he didn't stand on ceremony and servants didn't wear the usual royal uniforms.

Prince John, the youngest son of George V and Queen Mary, who suffered from severe epilepsy and possibly autism, resided at Wood Farm from 1917 until his death there in 1919.

And before Philip moved in, the younger royals too had several times held private parties at Wood Farm.

The Queen usually spends the month of January and February at Sandringham, following Christmas, in order to mark the anniversary of her father, George VI's death.

He died at the estate in February 1952, and this is when the Queen officially became the monarch.

The year marks 70 years since George VI's death, and Robert says it will be especially poignant as it is also the first year the Queen will face the milestone since Philip's death last April.

The Queen's decision to retreat to Wood Farm is a testament to the deep love she shared with Prince Philip.

It is a place that holds many memories for her, and it is where she can find solace and reflection.