EXCLUSIVEQueen Elizabeth II Contracting COVID-19 Is A 'Hugely Worrisome Scenario' For The Royals: 'Everyone Is Holding Their Breath That She'll Come Through This Safely'
Feb. 25 2022, Published 12:03 a.m. ET
Buckingham Palace is trying to downplay the news, but concerns continue to escalate for Queen Elizabeth II after it was revealed that she spent time with her son Prince Charles at Windsor Castle just two days before he tested positive for Covid-19.
The palace released a statement on Sunday, February 20, to announce that the Queen had tested positive for COVID-19, but that she was only experiencing "mild cold-like symptoms."
“Everyone in the family is praying that Her Majesty is going to be okay. But there are worries that she may have been exposed at the worst possible time,” a source says, noting the increasingly frail monarch’s recent health scares. (In October, the Queen, 95, was forced to cancel a trip to Ireland following a brief hospital stay, and just weeks later, she sprained her back.)
A source says the queen’s family wishes she “wouldn’t push herself so hard.” The monarch met with the new Estonian ambassador via video just five days after Charles tested positive for COVID-19.
Moreover, because the palace never confirmed whether she received her second and third doses of the coronavirus vaccine, “there is mounting distress that her immune system might not be able to stand up to the virus,” the source adds. “It’s a terrifying time.”
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But as Charles, 73, and his wife, Duchess Camilla, 74, who contracted the virus shortly after her husband, continued to self-isolate, the hard-working monarch quickly resumed her royal duties, holding two virtual audiences at Windsor Castle on February 15.
"The royals are staying tight-lipped and putting up a good front, but there is zero doubt that this is a hugely worrisome scenario. The whole country is rattled," shares the source, who says well-wishes, gifts and care packages have been pouring in for Her Majesty.
"Queen Elizabeth has been an absolute rock throughout her 70 years on the throne, and people would be shell-shocked if she fell ill," continues the source. "Everyone is holding their breath that she'll come through this safely."
