Charles has virus...but Queen rings Boris to say: One feels fine!
BUCKINGHAM Palace last night insisted the Queen was in ‘good health’ after Prince Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus.
It is understood the Prince of Wales met his 93-year-old mother at Buckingham Palace on March 12 – less than two weeks ago.
The virus has an estimated incubation period of one to 14 days.
Charles’s doctor is convinced that he would have been contagious from March 13 at the very earliest, based on when the prince, 71, first started to develop symptoms at the weekend.
The Duchess of Cornwall has tested negative but is now isolated from her husband at Birkhall, their Scottish retreat where both are staying.
Buckingham Palace, while refusing to comment on whether the Queen had been tested for coronavirus, took pains to stress last night that she was well. As if to emphasise the point, the Palace unusually released a picture of the Queen undertaking her weekly audience with the Prime Minister by telephone yesterday evening from Windsor Castle, where she is in isolation with Prince Philip, 98.
It shows her wearing a blue blouse and cardigan, surrounded by china corgis and racing trophies, and speaking on a 1970s-style white telephone.
A Palace spokesman said: ‘ Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health. The Queen last saw the Prince of Wales briefly on the morning of March 12 and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare.’
Charles began to feel ill over the weekend at his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire before flying to Scotland on Sunday.
He was tested via the NHS on Monday and the results came back positive late on Tuesday evening.
Clarence House insists that neither Charles nor Camilla were given special treatment.
Sources say his symptoms are mild and he has not even taken to his bed. He has spent the past few days working and is expected to make a full recovery. Clarence House said: ‘ The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.
‘In accordance with government and medical advice, the prince and the duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland. The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing.’
It added: ‘It is not possible to ascertain from whom the prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.’ Charles has had a packed public schedule, including the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, where he was with Boris Johnson and his pregnant partner Carrie Symonds, and senior royals including the Queen. He also met boxer Anthony Joshua but the heavyweight champion said last night he is ‘fit and well’ and obeying official advice to stay at home.
The following day Charles attended a conference with Prince Albert of Monaco, who subsequently revealed he had tested positive for Covid-19. That week he met celebrities including Ant and Dec and Ronnie Wood at a Prince’s Trust Event, held an investiture at Buckingham Palace and attended a charity dinner with Lord Archer and his wife Dame Mary.
On March 13, the prince went to Highgrove. On Sunday, he and Camilla flew to Scotland to stay at Birkhall. By that time he was starting to feel ill, say sources. But his symptoms were not bad enough for him to change his plans. It is understood he has called the Queen and his sons, William and Harry, to inform them of his illness.
Doctors say it is extremely unlikely his symptoms will develop into anything more serious and he is said to be in ‘very good spirits’. Anyone who came into contact with him since March 13 has been informed, but it is not believed they have been offered tests. Latest coronavirus video news, views and expert advice at mailplus.co.uk/coronavirus
‘He and Camilla are now self-isolating’