Prince Charles has tested positive for COVID-19, Clarence House announced today. Charles’ symptoms remain mild and he’s “in good health”, but both he and The Duchess of Cornwall were tested – Camilla tested negative. They are now in self-isolation at their Scotland home, Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate.
The Clarence House statement reads:
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. The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. 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 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.
RE Twitter
Charles last saw The Queen on March 12, briefly, which is one day before he’s claimed to have been infectious on March 13. Due to this, Buckingham Palace released a short statement about The Queen’s health.
Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health. The Queen last saw The Prince of Wales briefly on the morning of 12th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare. We will not be commenting further.
RE Twitter
More on Charles’ testing and movements two week ago:
The Prince did not go to hospital and was tested at Birkhall on Monday after experiencing symptoms over the weekend. The palace said that he met the NHS criteria for testing, which is understood to take into account age and medical history, although aides would not go into details of his about medical information or symptoms. […]
Prince Charles received his test result on Tuesday, and has spoken to sons William and Harry as well as his mother the Queen to share the news with them.
The Prince last met the Queen in person briefly on the morning of March 12; however, a source said that the most cautious estimate given by doctors is that the Prince would have been infectious no earlier than March 13. On March 13, he traveled to his Gloucestershire residence, Highgrove, where he held meetings with a small number of people who have been informed of his diagnosis. He and Camilla have been in Birkhall since Sunday, March 22.
Before leaving London, the Prince had a busy week of engagements commencing on Monday, March 9, with the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. The following day he was at a Water Aid event with Prince Albert of Monaco who has also tested positive for the virus. He also attended the Prince’s Trust Awards on March 11, and his last public engagement was a dinner at Mansion House in support of the Australian Bushfires relief fund on March 12.
T&C
I’m quite surprised that Charles was tested on Monday and got his results on Tuesday, since my city is saying testing results take 3-5 days. But I supposed Charles’ test was sent to the front of the line. Since Camilla, who has surely spent more time with Charles recently than The Queen, tested negative, here’s hoping The Queen remains healthy. Wishing Charles a speedy recovery; COVID-19 symptoms are no joke.
COVID-19 scares me, so I want to end this article on something a bit humorous. The line, “details of his about medical information”, makes me feel so much better about myself as a writer if even professional journalists and editors can miss mistakes like that.
