COVID-19 hits British royal family, Prince Charles tests positive

The heir to the British throne has tested positive for the coronavirus. Prince Charles has mild symptoms and otherwise remains in good health.

The Duke of Cornwall and his wife Camilla, who tested negative, are self-isolating at Balmoral. My question is this – why was Prince Charles continuing on with his schedule of royal duties during an outbreak of an international pandemic? Reports about this story all state that he was carrying out his public obligations as usual. .

Advertisement

“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.”

What? Shouldn’t he have been setting an example and staying home in one of the royal residences to ride out possible exposure to the coronavirus? Now it is very possible that he has spread the COVID-19 virus to others, too.

Prince Charles is in a high-risk group because of his age, whether he has any underlying health concerns or not. He’s 71 years old. His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, is 72 years old. So, they are in their home in Scotland after being tested by the NHS in Aberdeenshire. They both “met the criteria required for testing.” Clarence House states that Charles hasn’t seen his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, since March 12. He’s been working from home but still holding private meetings. Again, what? That’s not how this works.

The prince’s last public engagement was on 12 March, when he attended a Mansion House dinner hosted by William Russell, Lord Mayor of the City of London, and George Brandis, the High Commissioner for Australia, in aid of the Australian bushfire relief and recovery effort.

However, Charles has also been working from home over the last few days, and has held a number of private meetings with Highgrove and Duchy of Cornwall individuals, all of whom have been made aware.

A number of the household staff at Birkhall – the prince’s residence on the Balmoral estate – are now self-isolating at their own homes.

Advertisement

Allahpundit wrote an interesting post yesterday on the outbreak in England. Originally, Prime Minister Johnson thought it was a good idea for younger people to carry on as normal, living their lives, while older people self-isolate at home. The theory was that if younger people are more resilient to the virus, then they could experience the virus, probably without hospitalization and not overtax the hospital system. Older people would then be able to venture out again after “herd immunity” developed. There is also a very good chance, if one study is correct, that half of the population in England is already infected. Given all of this information, the carefree pursuit of his everyday calendar of events as though a pandemic wasn’t spreading across the country looks particularly irresponsible.

According to the latest Department of Health and Social Care figures, there are now more than 8,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK – although the actual number cases is likely to be far higher. Some 422 of those patients have died.

Perhaps he contacted the virus from Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Charles attended an event in London with Prince Albert II nine days before the Monaco royal tested positive for the virus. On March 9, the Prince of Wales attended the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London alongside his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and their wives, Duchess Kate and Meghan Markle. At the service, Charles actively avoided shaking hands with people and instead placed his hands together and bowed to guests.

Advertisement

So far, the Queen and Prince William and former Prince Harry are fine. Queen Elizabeth, age 93, began to self-quarantine just last week after staff became alarmed that she was carrying out her normal schedule of appearances. At least she began wearing gloves earlier in March, though she did continue to shake hands. We know now that the virus can live on material and even cardboard for several days. She’s a tough old bird but why take chances? She’s now self-quarantined at Windsor Castle.

Queen Elizabeth had taken to wearing gloves during her events when coronavirus first began to spread. During a March 3 ceremony, the queen shook hands while wearing gloves. “This is the first time in my memory, and I’ve been covering the royal family for 30 years, that Her Majesty has worn gloves for an investiture,” said ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson. “It is clear that she is acting on advice and her doctors are taking no chances.”

Since then, Buckingham Place has taken the next steps to cancel and postpone all forthcoming royal events. “In consultation with the Medical Household and Government, a number of public events with large numbers of people due to have been attended by The Queen, and other Members of the Royal Family, in the coming months will be cancelled or postponed,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Advertisement

The Queen is preparing a rare address to the British empire about the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been using SKYPE and FaceTime to keep in contact with family, like grandmothers and great grandmothers everywhere.

A special address would mark only the fourth such speech during her 68-year reign. The last time was in 2002 when her mother, Queen Elizabeth, also known as The Queen Mother, died.

There is no official date set for any coronavirus-related address from the 93-year-old, but a date for the televised speech will reportedly be nailed down in the coming weeks.

Prince Charles is a liberal climate alarmist dork. Queen Elizabeth, however, is a treasure. May she remain in good health for years to come.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Stephen Moore 8:30 AM | December 15, 2024
Advertisement
Advertisement