Queen shows no signs of Covid but faces days of tests after Prince Charles gets virus

11 February 2022, 08:23 | Updated: 11 February 2022, 08:57

The Queen is showing no symptoms of coronavirus, but is being closely monitored after meeting with the Prince of Wales two days before he tested positive for covid.

She now faces days of covid tests to find out whether she has contracted the virus.

The Queen has so far avoided contracting covid, although the Prince of Wales has now got it for the second time, and the Duke of Cambridge has also previously had it.

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on whether the Queen has tested positive or negative for the virus, citing her medical privacy.

Palace sources said a running commentary on the monarch's health would not be provided.

The Queen is understood to be at Windsor Castle, where she returned to meet Charles earlier this week after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Sunday.

The Prince of Wales tested positive for coronavirus yesterday, soon before a planned engagement in Winchester.

Read more: Queen's Covid scare: Prince Charles met Her Majesty two days before testing positive

His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, continued with her engagements after testing negative.

Under covid rules those in the same household as someone who has tested positive for covid no longer have to isolate, unless they are not fully vaccinated or also test positive.

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The Prince of Wales, who first tested positive for covid at the beginning of the pandemic, is not believed to have serious symptoms.

He held an investiture at the castle earlier this week, giving out MBEs to London chefs Margot and Fergus Henderson, and an OBE to Dr Nisreen Alwan for services to public health and medicine during the pandemic.

Should the Queen test positive for covid and be unable to carry out her royal duties, the Counsellors of State are appointed by Letters Patent to act in her place.

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The Counsellors of State are the Queen's consort, the late Duke of Edinburgh, and the next four adults in line to the throne.

This would mean the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex and the Prince of York.

The Queen is entitled to appoint her own Counsellors of State under the Regency Acts 1937-53.

On Wednesday evening, the day before testing positive for covid, the Prince of Wales gave a keynote speech to an event attended by around 350 people at the British Museum.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were also in attendance.