Prince Charles Tests Positive for COVID-19 and Is Self-Isolating with Camilla at Their Scotland Home

Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus. Clarence House confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the 71-year-old heir to the throne was diagnosed on Tuesday with COVID-19.

Charles had been staying at his Scotland home where he began to display “mild symptoms” of coronavirus on Sunday and was tested on Monday before receiving the results back yesterday. A spokesman for the prince tells BAZAAR.com and other outlets in a phone conference that Charles “otherwise remains in good health” and has been self-isolating at his Birkhall estate in Scotland, alongside Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who tested negative for the disease. They are now keeping separate from each other for the next 14 days.

“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus,” the March 25 Clarence House statement read. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual. The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. In accordance with government and medical advice, the Prince and the Duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland.”

The statement continued, “The tests were carried out by the NHS [National Health Service] in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing. It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.” It’s believed that criteria for testing included the prince’s advancing age and medical history.

Catherine Calderwood, the chief medical officer for Scotland, also confirmed that Charles and Camilla “both remain in good health,” and were tested for COVID-19 “for clinical reasons.”

A palace source tells BAZAAR.com that based on medical discussions, the prince’s symptoms are “unlikely to escalate into a more serious case.” Camilla, the source adds, is “concerned for the prince, but she is aware of his own good spirits and is therefore just keeping a close eye on him and mindful of her own situation. She is upbeat.”

Charles’s most recent public event was an evening reception in aid of the Australian bushfire relief efforts on March 12, which took place in London. Earlier in the day, he attended an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, where he greeted recipients with a non-contact gesture due to concerns about the spread of the illness.

BAZAAR.com understands that although Charles met the queen—who is now at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip—on the morning of March 12, doctors said he would not have become contagious until March 13 at the most conservative of estimates. “Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health,” read a Buckingham Palace statement. “The Queen last saw the Prince of Wales briefly [on March 12] and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare.”

Despite the mild symptoms, the Prince of Wales is making the most of his time in isolation, talking to his charities and having regular conversations with those running the Duchy estate. He has also spoken with his mother, the queen, and received calls from both Prince Harry and Prince William, who were concerned to hear about their father’s positive test result.

Although there is a small team of staff currently working at Birkhall, all of them are operating entirely isolated from both Charles and Camilla. The house, says a source, “is in complete isolation from the local community.”

On March 10, Charles—who had been avoiding handshakes and touch at his events during the pandemic outbreak—hosted a WaterAid summit at Clarence House to discuss the impact of climate change on drinking water access. Prince Albert of Monaco was in attendance, less than a week before he became the first head of state confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19. It is not believed that he passed the virus on to the Prince of Wales.

The United Kingdom has seen, so far, 424 deaths from coronavirus and more than 8,000 confirmed cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has enforced a lockdown on the entire country to try to slow the spread of the disease, urging people not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

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