The Queen has tested positive for Covid, Buckingham Palace has said.
Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace said, adding that the 95-year-old monarch would carry on working.
The palace said the queen would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week.
“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” the palace said in a statement.
People in the U.K. who test positive for COVID-19 are required to self-isolate for at least five days, though the British government says it plans to lift that requirement for England in the coming week.
The queen has received three doses of coronavirus vaccine.
Both her eldest son Prince Charles, 73, and 74-year-old daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have also recently contracted COVID-19. Charles has since returned to work.
Senior politicians sent get-well messages, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeting “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a quick recovery.” Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer wished the queen “good health and a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Ma’am.”
Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, the queen reached the milestone of 70 years on the throne on Feb. 6, the anniversary of the death in 1952 of her father King George VI.
A fixture in the life of the nation, Elizabeth has been in robust health for the majority of her reign. In the past year she has been seen using a walking stick, and in October she spent a night in a London hospital for unspecified tests.
The queen’s doctors ordered her to rest, and she was forced to cancel appearances at several key events, including Remembrance Sunday services and the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November.
This month she returned to public duties and has held audiences both virtually and in person with diplomats, politicians and senior military officers.
The queen has a busy schedule over the next few months of her Platinum Jubilee year, and is scheduled to attend in-person public engagements in the coming weeks, including a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2 and the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14.
On March 29, she is due to attend a remembrance service at Westminster Abbey for her husband Prince Philip, who died in April 2021 at the age of 99.
Public celebrations of the Platinum Jubilee are scheduled for June, with festivities including a military parade, a day of horse-racing and neighborhood parties over a June 2-5 long weekend.
The queen is the latest monarch from around the world to catch COVID-19. Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 82, and Spain’s King Felipe VI, 54, both tested positive for the illness earlier in February and had mild symptoms.
It was earlier reported that, the monarch is experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms” but expects to continue “light duties” at Windsor over the coming week, the palace said.
“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” it added in a statement.
The Queen, 95, had been in contact with her eldest son and heir, the Prince of Wales, who tested positive last week.
It is understood a number of people have tested positive at Windsor Castle, where the Queen resides.
Following the announcement, the Queen issued a congratulatory message to the Team GB Curling teams.
She heralded the teams’ “outstanding performance” at the Winter Olympics, which led to the women securing a gold medal and the men silver.
She said: “I know that your local communities and people throughout the United Kingdom will join me in sending our good wishes to you, your coaches and the friends and family who have supported you in your great success.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “sure I speak for everyone in wishing Her Majesty The Queen a swift recovery from Covid and a rapid return to vibrant good health”.
Leader of the Opposition, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer, also wished the monarch “good health and a speedy recovery”, adding: “Get well soon, Ma’am.”
The positive test comes days before England is expected to drop the legal requirement to self-isolate for those who catch Covid, as the last virus restrictions are set to be removed.
Outlining the thinking behind the government’s upcoming “living with Covid” plans, Johnson told the BBC it was time to “shift the balance away from state mandation” and said the public can “get their confidence back”.
On the eve of her Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne on 6 February, the Queen carried out her first major public engagement for more than three months, meeting charity workers at Sandringham House.
The Queen, who will be 96 in April, had her first vaccine in January 2021 and is believed to have had all her follow-up jabs after that.
BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said she had been taking life “rather more easily” since spending a night in hospital for medical checks in October last year.
In November, the Queen missed the Remembrance Sunday service with a strained back, weeks after being advised to rest by doctors following the hospital stay.
It was the first time she missed the ceremony at the Cenotaph in London as monarch, other than when she was pregnant or abroad.
While on light duties it is likely the Queen will be reading documents from UK government ministers and Commonwealth representatives sent to her every day, approving and signing them where necessary.
Antiviral hope
Meanwhile, BBC health correspondent Jim Reed said newly-approved antiviral drugs could aid the Queen’s recovery.
He said the drugs were now a key way to cut the risk of vulnerable people needing hospital treatment, although it was not clear if they would definitely be offered to the monarch.
Currently, the available antivirals need to be taken within three to five days of contracting Covid.
The drugs approved for use in the UK include Ronapreve and Molnupiravir, which have both demonstrated in medical trials they significantly reduce the risk of hospital admission or death.
Prince Charles, 73, tested positive on 10 February – he met with the Queen on 8 February. Covid symptoms generally appear from two to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
On Tuesday, the Queen attended her first official engagement since coming into contact with Prince Charles, holding a virtual meeting with two new ambassadors to the UK.
The following day, she smiled as she suggested she had mobility problems during a meeting with defence staff. Standing while using a walking stick, she pointed to her left leg and said: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move.”
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Prince Charles’ wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, 74, tested positive for the virus last week, days after her husband.
It was the first time the duchess had caught Covid, and the second time for Prince Charles.
The Royal Household has its own physicians, and the Queen’s is Sir Huw Thomas, a consultant at St Mary’s Hospital in London and professor of gastrointestinal genetics at Imperial College London.
He is “head of the medical household”, which is part of the Royal Household looking after the health of the family.
Timeline: The royal family and Covid
- March 2020: Prince Charles tests positive
- April: Duke of Cambridge tests positive
- January 2021: The Queen and Prince Philip have their first jabs
- February: Prince Charles and Camilla receive their first doses
- 8 February 2022: Queen spends time with Prince Charles at an event at Windsor Castle
- 10 February: Prince Charles tests positive a second time
- 14 February: Camilla tests positive
- 20 February: Buckingham Palace announces Queen has tested positive
