Will the Queen get tested for coronavirus? Charles' positive diagnosis raises questions on 93-year-old's health
Princes Charles' testing positive for the novel coronavirus has raised fears that other members of the royal family, including the Queen, may have been infected as well.
The Prince of Wales, 71, was in self-isolation at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, when the illness was confirmed. Camilla, on the other hand, has not tested positive for the virus.
It has, however, led to speculation that the Queen may have contracted the virus as well, with BBC's royal correspondent Sarah Campbell asking if she has been tested for it yet.
"This does beg the question has the Queen been tested," she said of Charles' diagnosis. "The statement on Prince Charles has just been released and we are expecting to get some more details about this."
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson insisted that the Queen, 93, is in "good health" and that she had not been in contact with her son for the past two weeks.
"Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health," the spokesperson said. "The Queen last saw The Prince of Wales briefly after the investiture on the morning of 12th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare."
A Clarence House spokesman similarly said that Charles was in good health despite his illness.
"The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus," the spokesman shared. "He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual."
"In accordance with government and medical advice, the Prince and the Duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland. The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing."
The spokesman could not confirm where or who Charles could have contracted the disease from as he had carried out a large number of public engagements in "recent weeks."
Charles' diagnosis came just a fortnight after he met with Prince Albert of Monaco, who tested positive for Covid-19 nine days after he met with the 71-year-old at a WaterAid event in London.
A day before that event, the Prince of Wales had also attended the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, where the Queen, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also present.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, Penny Junor, Charles’s biographer and who has been close to the family for many years, said, "He’s only recently gone up to Aberdeen, and until he was forcibly stopped he continued to be out and about, meeting people and doing things."
"It just shows nobody is immune; other world leaders have got it so why not the heir to the throne?"
She also said there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Charles' chances of battling and beating the disease because he was in impeccable shape.
"He is a strong, fit man. He is very diet conscious, he exercises, he is slim, he doesn’t have asthma and has never smoked. He doesn’t really have any health issues apart from a bad back from several polo falls," she said.
"Of course, he will be having top-notch medical care, but still, it is very scary."