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 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.
Source: Dailymail
