The Queen Has Formed a New "Firm of Eight" and Only Some Royals Made the Cut

• The Queen has reportedly formed a new "firm of eight" with very specific senior royals.
• She apparently thinks "one must be seen to be believed," so you should expect this group to attend events together going forward.

The British royal family has spent much of 2020 making solo appearances amid the coronavirus pandemic (opens in new tab), but it sounds like we could see more group gatherings as we head into 2021 thanks to the Queen's new "firm of eight." According to The Sun (opens in new tab), Queen Elizabeth II has picked a select group of eight senior royals to make public appearances together in order to abide by her personal rule of "one must be seen to be believed."

The group includes Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla of Cornwall, Prince Edward, Countess Sophie of Wessex, Princess Anne and, naturally, the Queen herself.

Missing from this list are Prince Andrew (which...yeah (opens in new tab)) and his daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice (opens in new tab), Prince Philip (who has retired from royal engagements), and of course Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (who stepped down from their roles as senior royals and currently live in America).

The Queen's new "firm of eight" was seen for the first time last week at the end of Kate and William's royal train tour (opens in new tab)—and The Sun (opens in new tab) reports that it was the Queen's idea to get everyone together on the steps of Windsor Castle where she has been spending time amid the pandemic.

A royal source tells the Mirror (opens in new tab): "The family are united in exploring the possibilities in working with each other to highlight the causes dear to their hearts, helping each other and the country at the same time. They are working on opportunities for next year and beyond already. As soon as they are able it will be all hands on deck to make up for lost time. The Queen has often said they 'need to be seen to be believed'—this is coming from the very top."