The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
However a spokesman said she expects to continue light duties at Windsor this week.
A palace source said a number of cases have been diagnosed in the Windsor Castle team.
Her Majesty was being closely monitored after Charles’ caught the virus just days after pair had been in close contact earlier this month.
As the time, Buckingham Palace refused to confirm whether the 95-year-old monarch had tested positive or negative, fuelling fears for her health, but palace sources insisted she was not displaying symptoms of the virus.
However, it has now been confirmed that she too has tested positive for Covid.
The Queen has been triple-vaccinated. She received her first jab in January 2021 and her second jab in March while sources say it is believed she got her booster jab in October.
The Prince of Wales, 73, has finished his period of self isolation after testing positive last Thursday, forcing him to pull out of a joint engagement in Winchester with wife Camilla.
Aides confirmed the future king had not experienced strong symptoms, but the Duchess of Cornwall revealed he was finding the situation “a bit tiresome”.
It is the second time the heir to the throne has contracted the virus, first doing so in March 2020 when he had mild symptoms and lost his sense of smell and taste.
On Monday Camilla tested positive, forcing her into a period of isolation.
Under the current guidelines anyone who tests positive must self isolate, but can be released from their isolation period if they test negative on day 5 and day 6 and do not have a temperature.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is one of many high profile figures who have send public wishes to the Monarch.
He said: “I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing Her Majesty The Queen a swift recovery from Covid and a rapid return to vibrant good health.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer wrote: “On behalf of myself and the whole of @UKLabour, wishing Her Majesty The Queen good health and a speedy recovery.
“Get well soon, Ma’am.”
Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a quick
recovery.”
Last week the Queen carried out an in-person engagement at Windsor Castle, meet the incoming Defence Services Secretary Major General Eldon Millar and his predecessor Rear Admiral James Macleod.
However man royal watchers were concerned when she was overheard saying she couldn’t move in footage from the engagement.
The monarch can be heard remarking loudly: “Oh. I’m here! I thought you might have just stayed in there for ages. Good morning.”
Asked how she is, the smiling Queen, wearing a floral dress and holding a walking stick, points to her left leg or foot and responds: “Well as you can see I can’t move.”
Covid is the latest in a number of health issues for the Queen, but she was said to be feeling “much better” after a tough few months at the end of last year.
She was forced to spend the night in hospital in October after receiving treatment for an unexplained condition.
he Queen was out and about on public duties on Saturday, the eve of her record-breaking Platinum jubilee, meeting charity workers at Sandringham House – her first major public appearance in more than three months.
Doctors ordered her to take a period of rest after she completed a relentless schedule of 19 engagements in as many days.
The monarch then missed the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London in November after spraining her back.
Throughout the pandemic, the Queen has largely been shielded by a ring of steel dubbed ‘HMS Bubble’, whereby 22 royal staff sacrificed their home lives to stay isolated at Windsor Castle so they could serve the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip during lockdown.
A year later, in April 2021, strict Covid regulations meant the Queen was forced to wear a mask and sit alone as she attended husband Prince Philip’s funeral.
In recent weeks she has been enjoying her freedom after making a trip to Sandringham, her Norfolk estate, to mark the anniversary of her father’s death and day of her accession to the throne on February 6.
Below are screenshots of official memos
