Prince Charles tests positive for Covid-and is forced into self-isolation
Triple-jabbed Prince Charles, 73, tests positive for Covid for a SECOND TIME – and is forced into self-isolation – just a day after he rubbed shoulders with Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak at British Museum
Clarence House confirmed today Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus and is now self-isolatingThis is the second time the Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 after contracting it in March 2020 The news comes hours after Charles attended black tie event with Home Secretary and Chancellor last night
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The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating, Clarence House has said.
This is the second time Prince Charles, 73, who is triple jabbed, has tested positive for the coronavirus after contracting the disease in March 2020.
Aides said the prince was found to be positive during a routine test – which suggested he was experiencing no strong symptoms – but they declined to go into further details on his medical condition.
A message on the prince’s official Twitter page read: ‘This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating.
‘HRH is deeply disappointed not to be able to attend today’s events in Winchester and will look to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.’
Both he and the Duchess of Cornwall have been taking regular tests before engagements and Clarence House said Camilla had a negative test on Thursday. Under current Covid rules, although she lives with Charles, Camilla is not required to self-isolate as she is also fully vaccinated.
A spokesman added: ‘The Duchess of Cornwall has routinely tested negative today. She is on a separate series of engagements from the Prince of Wales.’
While in the past, Covid rules would have dictated that all those who had come into contact with the prince must self-isolate, it is no longer a requirement.
It comes a day after Boris Johnson announced he plans to axe all virus restrictions in England by the end of the month which would mean even those who have tested positive for the virus will not be required to self-isolate, ‘provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue’.
Currently, people who develop Covid symptoms or test positive must self-isolate for 10 days (or five full days following two negative lateral flow test results).
The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating, Clarence House said. The news came hours after Charles gave a speech at a British Asian Trust event attended by Home Secretary Priti Patel and Chancellor Rishi Sunak
Pictured: The Prince of Wales speaks to Home Secretary Priti Patel at an event to celebrate the British Asian Trust last night
The news comes hours after Prince Charles (pictured, left, with Camilla) rubbed shoulders with Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak (pictured right) during a British Asian Trust event being hosted at the British Museum last night, Wednesday, February 9
The Prince of Wales has said he ‘got away with it quite lightly’ when he contracted coronavirus at the beginning of the UK’s epidemic in March.
He spent seven days in self-isolation at his Birkhall home in Scotland before resuming his duties.
It is understood the Prince, who is triple-jabbed, has not been in contact with the Queen this week, although Clarence House has yet to confirm when he last met with his mother.
The news comes hours after Prince Charles and wife Camilla, 74, rubbed shoulders with Home Secretary Priti Patel and Chancellor Rishi Sunak at a British Asian Trust event hosted at the British Museum last night.
Charles, who founded the trust in 2007, told more than 350 guests of the impact of Covid on the region.
Using his pet name for Camilla, the Urdu for ‘darling’, he said: ‘It is almost two years that my Mehabooba and myself were able to be with you. Since then… there has been terrible loss of life.’
The Prince of Wales gave the keynote speech at the event which was attended by more than 350 guests including Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
The Trust was founded by Charles in 2007 alongside British-Asian business leaders to ‘support the development of a South Asia that maximises the potential of its people and that is free from inequality and injustice’.
Before his speech, Charles and Camilla greeted supporters and ambassadors of the BAT in the museum’s Egyptian Gallery.
They first spoke with Mr Sunak and Ms Patel before the four posed for photos.
The duchess later thanked ambassadors Neev Spencer and Ritula Shah as they congratulated her after the Queen’s announcement that she would become Queen Consort.
Hitan Mehta, executive director of the trust, said that it was ‘amazing’ to be able to host the royal couple at the reception after it was not held last year due to the pandemic.
The development comes just days after the Queen marked her Platinum Jubilee by expressing her ‘sincere wish’ that the Duchess of Cornwall would be Queen Camilla at Charles’s side when he is one day King.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall has been photographed visiting Paddington Haven, a sexual assault referral centre in London today. Under Covid rules, you are no longer required to self-isolate if someone from your household tests positive as long as you are fully vaccinated.
Before his speech, Charles and Camilla greeted supporters and ambassadors of the BAT in the museum’s Egyptian Gallery
Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles pose with guests at the event
Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha made the Prince of Wales laugh when they met at last night’s glitzy reception in central London
Pictured: Prince Charles chatted to Priti Patel, who was among the 350 guests invited to the bash at the British Museum
Pictured: Disappointed members of the public waiting by the statue of Licoricia of Winchester at The Arc in Winchester which was meant to be unveiled by the Prince of Wales but who could not attend as he tested positive for Covid and is self-isolating
In place of Prince Charles, Lord-Lieutenant Hampshire Nigel Atkinson unveils the statue of Licoricia of Winchester at The Arc
At the centre in West London, she met with staff as well as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and spoke with former Love Island star Zara McDermott who discussed her experience of revenge porn and assault.
In December, both Prince Charles and Camilla confirmed they had received their booster jabs as they urged those who are unvaccinated to get their injections as soon as possible.
It is understood the couple received their first vaccine in February last year and had their boosters in November.
‘To all those who have not yet had the vaccine – or are hesitating before getting a booster – we can only urge you to look at the evidence in our intensive care wards and listen to those who work there,’ they said.
They added: ‘We urge everyone to get vaccinated and to take up the booster, as we have done ourselves.’
Charles’s son Prince William also contracted COVID shortly after his father in 2020, with media reports saying he had been hit pretty badly by the virus. It is believed the Duke of Cambridge kept his illness private so not to alarm the public.
The Prince of Wales will now go into self-isolation for 10 days and has cancelled his scheduled engagements.
He had been due to unveil a statue of Licoricia of Winchester today before attending a civic reception at The Great Hall.
Camilla shakes hands with staff as she visits the clinic Paddington Haven, a sexual assault referral centre in London today
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (R) shakes hands with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (L) at the clinic Paddington Haven
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall with (from L) chair of the National Sexual Abuse and Assault Services Laura Currer, Love Island star Zara McDermott and Nicola, a sexual assault survivor, at Paddington Haven, a sexual assault referral centre today
The announcement of the prince’s positive test was made just after midday, around 12 minutes before Charles was due to arrive in Winchester on the visit to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Aides were only informed a few moments before.
More than 1,000 people were gathered behind barriers in the city’s Jewry Street, waiting to see the prince unveil a new statue of Licoricia of Winchester, a prominent Jewish moneylender who was murdered in 1277 during a period of antisemitism in the reign of Edward I that culminated in the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290.
The Queen’s representative in Hampshire, the Lord Lieutenant Nigel Atkinson, told the crowd, who groaned with disappointment when he relayed the news.
Standing at the microphone, the Lord Lieutenant told the crowd: ‘As Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, I’m afraid I have some very disappointing news for you. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid a few minutes ago and will therefore be unable to join us today.
‘However, I do send my very best wishes on behalf of Hampshire to His Royal Highness and hope that he improved soon.’
The Lord Lieutenant, in ceremonial uniform, then read out a message from the prince.
Charles’s message said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, 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.
Pictured: The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, helps unveil a statue of Licoricia of Winchester at The Arc in Winchester after the Prince of Wales who was due to unveil it has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating
Pictured: The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, helps unveil a statue of Licoricia of Winchester at The Arc in Winchester after the Prince of Wales who was due to unveil it has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating
A plaque on the statue of Licoricia of Winchester at The Arc in Winchester which was meant to be unveiled by Prince Charles
‘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 as you mark this memorable occasion for Winchester.’
Charles wanted to be there as a symbol of his commitment to religious tolerance in modern Britain. His personal record of support for religious and ethnic minorities has been cited against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s claims of racism inside the royal family.
The statue, by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, shows Licoricia holding hands with her younger son. The moneylender was murdered in 1277 but no one was ever convicted.
After the announcement, the Prince’s personal security staff fanned out into the crowd to express his sorrow for having to cancel his visit at such late notice.
Later, in a public statement, the Prince said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ before pledging to visit the city soon.
In the wake of the Prince’s sudden isolation, Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson stepped into his shoes and unveiled the life-sized bronze statue. The statue was then blessed by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
There has been no immediate comment on Charles’ condition.
Covid reinfections – where someone tests positive for Covid-19 more than 90 days after a previous positive result – currently represent around 10 per cent of daily cases in England.
Of the 14.8 million infection episodes in England since the start of the pandemic, some 588,114 (4.0%) are likely reinfections.
