Prince Charles, the eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is showing mild symptoms of the new coronavirus and is self-isolating in Scotland, his office said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the country’s response to tackling the outbreak.
The 71-year-old Prince of Wales is staying on his mother’s sprawling Balmoral estate in Scotland, but “otherwise remains in good health”.
His wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 72, tested negative, Clarence House said in a statement.
The disclosure about the future king, whose age puts him in the most-risk category for the disease, came as Britain said there were more than 8,000 cases of COVID-19 and 422 deaths as of Tuesday.
The Foreign Office said its deputy head of mission at the British embassy in Budapest, Steven Dick, 37, had died after conracting the virus.
And a 21-year-old woman with no apparent underlying health conditions also died, her family said, urging people to heed official advice.
The government on Monday ordered a three-week lockdown of the country to cut close-contact transmission, to slow the rate of infection and reduce the burden on healthcare services.
The elderly and most vulnerable, including those with underlying health issues, have been told to stay at home, and anyone displaying symptoms to self-isolate for seven days.
Clarence House said doctors believe Charles became contagious on March 13 — a day after last meeting his mother.
The 93-year-old queen has been staying with her 98-year-old husband Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, 640 miles (820 kilometres) south of Balmoral, since March 19.
Given their age — and Prince Philip’s stay in hospital at Christmas — the prince’s diagnosis prompted questions about their potential exposure to the virus.
But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “Her Majesty the Queen remains in good health.
“The Queen last saw the Prince of Wales briefly after the investiture on the morning of March 12, and is following all the appropriate advice with regards to her welfare.”
She would not say whether the queen had been tested for coronavirus when contacted by AFP.
The duke was not with the queen at Buckingham Palace when she last met Charles, the domestic Press Association news agency added.
Charles has been in touch with his eldest son, second-in-line to the throne Prince William, who is in Norfolk, eastern England, with his wife and their children, and youngest son Prince Harry, who is in Canada.
AFP
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