LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth II has contracted the coronavirus, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday, becoming one of the world’s leading figures in the fight against the virus and sparking deep concern in the country she has led for seven decades.
The palace released few details of the 96-year-old queen’s condition in April.
“Buckingham Palace can confirm that the Queen today has tested positive for Covid,” the palace said in a statement. Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties in Windsor over the next week. You will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all appropriate guidelines.”
This month, she met her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, who… Re-infected with coronavirus They entered isolation. The last time he contracted a mild case of the virus was in March 2020, when the pandemic was sweeping Britain first.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a severe bout of Covid around the same time and ended up in the intensive care unit. But even that troubling episode faded with the news that the Queen, who had reigned longer than most Britons alive, had fallen ill with a fatal disease.
Buckingham Palace worked to protect the Queen from exposure to the virus. She retreated to Windsor Castle in early 2020 with her husband Prince Philip, and has lived in virtual quarantine for more than a year.
Elizabeth received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine in January 2021 at Windsor Castle, along with Philip. The palace did not confirm any subsequent doses of the vaccine. Charles said he was fully vaccinated and boosted.
Philip passed away in April 2021 At the age of 99, the Queen was forced to isolate herself during his funeral. A photographer snapped a touching photo of her, sad alone and wearing a mask, in a choir booth at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
In recent weeks, the Queen has begun to appear in public again after a difficult period last fall, when she canceled several public engagements due to what Buckingham Palace officials described as fatigue. Its weakness deepened the concern that the second Elizabethan era was coming to an end.
The circumstances of the Queen’s injury remained ambiguous in questions. Charles was at Windsor Castle, where she is staying, on February 8 for an inauguration. Charles, 73, got news that he had the virus on February 10 and postponed a trip to Winchester, England, at the last minute. his wife Camilla, Also tested positive.
Speaking to Sky News in June 2020, Charles said he “get away with it pretty easily” the first time he contracted the virus. “I was lucky in my case,” he said, “but I had it, and I could understand what other people went through.”
The The Queen celebrated the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne on February 5 at her country house, Sandringham. In a statement issued that day, she said she hoped that when Charles succeeds her, his wife Camilla would be known as the Queen – a huge endorsement the couple had long sought from the monarch.
“We are fully aware of the honor that my mother’s wish represents,” Charles said in a statement. “As we have both sought to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my beloved wife has been my unwavering support throughout.”
