Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19 for second time

Britain’s Prince Charles  (AFP / file photo)

LONDON – Prince Charles, the eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is isolating after testing positive for coronavirus for the second time, his office said on Thursday.

“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating,” said a message on the prince’s official Twitter page.

Charles had been due to unveil a statue in Winchester, southern England, on Thursday but his attendance was cancelled at the last minute, leaving him “deeply disappointed”, Clarence House said.

The prince met recently with the Queen, but the 95-year-old monarch is not currently displaying any symptoms, an unnamed royal source told the domestic Press Association news agency.

The Queen, who isolated in her own “bubble” because of her age at Windsor Castle, west of London, when the pandemic struck in early 2020, has had recent health problems that forced her to take a step back from official duties on medical advice.

However, she is once again filling up her diary as a year of celebrations began this week to mark her record-breaking 70 years on the throne.

The 73-year-old prince also tested positive in March 2020 and spent around a week isolating at the Queen’s Balmoral estate in Scotland.

Charles met several people at a reception in the British Museum on Wednesday, including finance minister Rishi Sunak and interior minister Priti Patel.

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