Queen Elizabeth, 95, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms but expects to continue light duties this week, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday.
“The queen has today tested positive for Covid-19,” the Palace said. “Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.”
It was confirmed she had been in direct contact with her eldest son and heir, the Prince of Wales, the week he had the virus, while a number of cases have also been reported at her Windsor Castle home.
The announcement on Sunday was made only a few weeks after the Queen reached her platinum jubilee of 70 years on the throne on 6 February.
The Queen is understood to be triple-vaccinated, but she had been on doctors’ orders to rest since mid October, after cancelling a run of engagements and spending a night in hospital undergoing preliminary tests.
She is believed to have spent time with Charles on Tuesday 8 February, when he hosted an investiture at Windsor Castle.
A few days later he tested positive for Covid but made a quick recovery to full health.
The Duchess of Cornwall has also tested positive for Covid, with Clarence House confirming last Monday that the duchess was self-isolating.
The royal household has its own physicians and the Queen’s doctors will be on hand to take care of and monitor the head of state, with Prof Sir Huw Thomas, the head of the medical household and physician to the Queen, expected to be in charge.
