The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor this week, Buckingham Palace has announced.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Buckingham Palace confirm that The Queen has today tested positive for Covid.
“Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.
“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines.”
Covid symptoms may appear from two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, but it is understood a number of cases have also been diagnosed among the Windsor Castle team.
The 95-year-old met recently with her son Prince Charles who subsequently tested positive, but a palace source at the time declined to confirm whether or not the Queen had tested negative.
Her Majesty has held engagements since Charles tested positive, meeting Defence Services Secretary Major General Eldon Millar, and his predecessor Rear Admiral James Macleod at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
The Royal Household has its own royal physicians and the Queen’s doctors will be on hand to take care of and monitor the head of state, with Professor Sir Huw Thomas, head of the Medical Household and Physician to the Queen, expected to be in charge.
The Queen is understood to be triple vaccinated but she had been on doctors’ order to rest since mid October, after cancelling a run of engagements and spending a night in hospital undergoing preliminary tests.
It comes at a difficult time for the Royal Family after Prince Andrew settled with his accuser Virginia Giuffre – who says the Duke of York of sexually assaulted her when she was 17-years-old.
Although the parties have settled the case, the agreement is not an admission of guilt from the duke, he has always strenuously denied the allegations against him and previously attempted to get the lawsuit dropped.
He was under renewed pressure to give up one of his last remaining titles – the Duke of York – amid reports he paid Ms Giuffre a multimillion-pound figure.
Her heir Prince Charles has also been embroiled in controversy after the Metropolitan Police announced it was investigating cash-for-honours allegations linked to his charity, The Prince’s Foundation.
The force said officers worked with the charity after it launched an investigation of its own following claims about a letter in which former CEO Michael Fawcett is alleged to have promised assistance with an honour in return for past and future donations.
Police stressed no arrests had been made, and no interviews had been carried out under caution, but that officers had been “contacting those believed to hold relevant information.”
Credit: itv
