Buckingham Palace again refused to say today whether the Queen has COVID amid mounting fears after Camilla joined Charles in testing positive for the virus.
Royal sources said Camilla, 74, has been triple vaccinated, adding that Clarence House will continue to follow government guidelines and review her engagements.
Camilla and Charles, 73, are both now self-isolating, but Buckingham Palace officials said they would ‘not be providing a running commentary’ on the Queen’s health.
Royal officials confirmed last week that the Queen had no symptoms, and told MailOnline today that they had ‘nothing to add’ to this after Camilla’s positive test.
Camilla has caught the virus for the first time but Charles contracted it for a second time. She carried out engagements last Thursday – the day Charles tested positive.
A Clarence House spokesman said: ‘The Duchess of Cornwall has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating. We continue to follow government guidelines.’
It comes as doctors continue to monitor the Queen’s health after Charles was diagnosed with COVID-19 less than 48 hours after seeing his mother last week.
Camilla described herself as ‘luckily’ negative the same day, saying of her testing regime during a visit to Buckinghamshire last Thursday: ‘I’ve taken it so many times’.
It is not clear whether Camilla also saw the Queen. Earlier this month the monarch, who is in her Platinum Jubilee year, endorsed Camilla to be one day known as Queen Consort, and called on the public to back her and Charles when he becomes king.
Concern for the Queen’s health mounted last week after the 95-year-old monarch was in direct contact with eldest son Charles two days before he tested positive.
Buckingham Palace said last Thursday that the Queen was not displaying any symptoms, but refused to confirm whether she had tested positive or negative.
The 95-year-old spent time with Charles last Tuesday when the Prince of Wales was carrying out an investiture on her behalf at her Windsor Castle home.
It was the first time he had seen her since Christmas Day. But Charles, who is also triple vaccinated, then unexpectedly tested positive on a routine lateral flow test.
Buckingham Palace has refused to say whether the Queen had undergone a test herself or, if she had, what the result was, saying she had a ‘right to medical privacy’.
Earlier last week Buckingham Palace also announced a gentle and ‘paced’ return to official engagements for the Queen following her recent ill-health.
Charles, 73, is not understood to be have been showing any symptoms any Covid-19. He is self-isolating, although officials declined to disclose where.
His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, had tested negative last Thursday shortly before undertaking a string of public engagements.
These included visiting the Thames Valley Partnership charity in Buckinghamshire and the UKHarvest charity’s West London ‘Nourish Hub’, both on the same day.
On Wednesday night the couple both rubbed shoulders with 350 guests at a British Asian Trust reception at the British Museum – a day before Charles tested positive.
Among those Charles was seen meeting and greeting were Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Charles and Camilla had spent a long weekend together at Highgrove, his country residence in Gloucestershire.
They left separately last Tuesday morning, with the prince driving straight to Windsor Castle to hand out honours to almost 100 members of the public.
Camilla headed to Bath for two engagements. On Thursday, Charles had been due in Winchester to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and to unveil a statue.
The announcement of his positive test was made just after midday – about 12 minutes before he had been due to arrive.
More than 1,000 had gathered behind barriers, and groaned when the Queen’s representative in Hampshire, the Lord-Lieutenant Nigel Atkinson, relayed the news.
In a message to the crowd, Charles said: ‘I am so sorry that I cannot be with you today. I am desperately disappointed as I was so looking forward to marking this historic occasion with you.
‘I hope very much that I will be able to visit at a future time. But for today please accept my most heartfelt apologies and my very best wishes.’
Members of the Royal Family always take a lateral flow test before they conduct a public engagement.
Under current COVID rules, although she lives with Charles, Camilla had not been required to self-isolate when she tested negative last Thursday because she is also fully vaccinated. But she must now self-isolate after her positive test.
Camilla and Charles can both come out of isolation if they test negative on day five and day six and do not have a temperature.
It is the second time that Charles has contracted the virus. He tested positive at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when no inoculation was available.
Source: Daily Mail
