Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge meets patients and staff during a visit to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for the Oak Cancer Centre at The Royal Marsden hospital in central London on Oct. 21, 2020. Image: Jack Hill/POOL/AFP
Prince William reportedly struggled with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and decided to keep his diagnosis private back in April.
The Duke of Cambridge, 38, contracted the virus after his father, Prince Charles, and United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson came down with the disease in March, The Sun reported yesterday, Nov. 1.
“William was hit pretty hard by the virus,” a source said, noting that he was “struggling to breathe” at one point. He isolated in Anmer Hall in Norfolk and was treated by palace doctors.
As for the decision to keep his condition under wraps, he reportedly told an observer, “There were important things going on and I didn’t want to worry anyone.”
Prince William might have wanted to avoid alarm given the national mood, BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond explained today, Nov. 2.
William, second in line to the throne, continued to work remotely in April by fulfilling engagements through phone and video call, according to The Sun.
Prince Charles, 71, was able to recover after having mild symptoms. However, he admitted last June that his sense of smell and taste have yet to return.
The U.K. will go back into lockdown from Nov. 5 to Dec. 2 after coronavirus cases surged past the 1 million mark. It currently has the ninth highest number of cases in the world, as per the World Health Organization. Niña V. Guno/JB
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