In a rare public appearance, the queen knights Captain Tom

When Queen Elizabeth II tapped Sir Tom Moore on both shoulders with a sword at Windsor Castle on Friday, she confirmed the noble status of a 100-year-old man whose achievements during the pandemic had already propelled him into the ranks of Britain’s most exalted citizens.

Yet the ceremony was remarkable in a couple of other ways. It brought together two of the greatest living links to Britain’s World War II history — the queen who worked as a young driver and truck mechanic during the war, and a decorated Army officer who fought in the infamous Burma campaign and has found celebrity as the charitable fundraiser known as Captain Tom.

It also brought the queen out of seclusion for her first face-to-face meeting with a member of the public since March 19, when she hastily left Buckingham Palace as the coronavirus bore down on London. Conferring a knighthood on Moore, who raised $40 million for Britain’s National Health Service by walking 100 laps of his garden, was evidently worth the risk of stepping out.

“Tom, with his remarkable achievement, was important to honour,” said Dickie Arbiter, who served as the queen’s press secretary from 1988 to 2000. Equally important, he said, was her decision to show up in person to bestow the honour. “She’s always said she’s ‘got to be seen to be believed,’ ” he noted.

Whether Britons will ever see their revered monarch in person again has become a wistful theme in the British tabloids in recent weeks, one made even more piquant by the once-in-a-century pandemic, which has showcased her ability to take to the airwaves and rally the nation during difficult times.

Captain Tom Moore poses after being awarded with the insignia of Knight Bachelor by Britain's Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Britain July 17, 2020. Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS

But the queen’s age — she recently turned 94 — and her resulting vulnerability to the virus have raised doubts that she will ever be able to return to her life of diplomatic receptions, garden parties and hospital dedications. Her regular weekly meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson have been conducted by phone since the outbreak began.

“Queen heartbreak,” said a typical headline in the Daily Express. “Will we ever see the queen in public again?”

The answer, based on Friday’s ceremony, is yes — but at a far stricter remove than in pre-pandemic days. Moore’s investiture was held outdoors, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, rather than inside. Buckingham Palace banned the public, though Moore was allowed to bring his family.

Bearing a sword that had belonged to her father, George VI, the queen approached Moore, who stood, rather than kneeled, with his walker. Neither wore a face mask, though as Arbiter noted, “the sword is quite long,” so the two were able to keep some distance. The queen drew closer to present Moore with the insignia of knight bachelor, and they chatted for a few minutes.

The queen’s inability to mingle with her subjects has forced Buckingham Palace to turn to social media. The palace maintains accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and has posted pictures and videos of her activities, including a photo of her with her husband, Prince Philip, on his 99th birthday.

Like other people of her age, a person with knowledge of the palace said, she has adjusted fitfully to technological innovations like Zoom calls. The queen has spoken on video with her grandson Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, who now live in Los Angeles, about the birthday of their son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

Her first foray into virtual public engagements was in June, when she and her daughter, Princess Anne, spoke to a group of health workers — the queen occupying the centre square on the familiar checkerboard of people staring into their screens.

Royal watchers say the queen’s use of video calls has offered a glimpse into her personal interactions that is not often seen in images of her chatting in receiving lines. During a recent call with three members of the British military serving overseas, she served up a mix of stilted questions and wry asides.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth talks to Captain Tom Moore and his family after awarding him with the insignia of Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Britain July 17, 2020. Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS

When Lance Cpl. Shanwayne Stephens of the Royal Air Force told the queen that he moonlighted as the pilot of the Jamaican bobsled team, she replied, “Gosh, sounds a very dangerous job,” and quizzed him about how he trained. Stephens told her he pushed cars up and down the road near his home in Peterborough, England.

“Well I suppose that’s one way to train,” she said, as her eyes widened.

The queen has kept up other official duties. She still digests official government papers that are delivered to her in red boxes. A few days before July 4, she spoke by phone with President Donald Trump, who wished her a “happy birthday, marking 94 extraordinary years,” according to the White House.

But the only other time she appeared in public was in June, when she watched a military parade to mark her birthday. She sat alone under a white canopied pavilion, flanked by two officers, as the first battalion of the Welsh Guards marched in socially distanced formation on the greensward of Windsor’s quadrangle.

Windsor was also the site of a surprise wedding Friday for the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, who married a British property developer, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The couple had cancelled their royal wedding in May. The queen and Prince Andrew witnessed the small ceremony, which Buckingham Palace said was private and socially distanced but still somewhat upstaged Moore’s investiture.

Given her age and the danger of a second wave of infections, the queen is likely to remain an isolated figure for the foreseeable future. It is not clear she will even make her annual summer retreat to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, given the Scottish government’s concerns about visitors from England importing the virus. While certain kinds of interactions may never return, royal watchers noted that the large majority of Britons only experience the queen via television anyway.

“She’s not going to disappear,” said Valentine Low, royal correspondent for The Times of London. “The idea that we’ll never see her again is kind of ridiculous.”

In May, the queen won extravagant praise for a televised address in which she recalled her military service and exhorted Britons to pull together in the spirit of the Blitz to confront the pandemic. Her parting words, drawn from a famous wartime song by Vera Lynn, spoke to those who miss her.

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” the queen said. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”