Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, world’s longest-serving monarch, tests positive for Covid; symptoms are mild

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild symptoms, Buckingham Palace said. The queen has received three jabs of the coronavirus vaccine.

The 95-year-old monarch will continue with light duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week, the officials said.

“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” the palace said in a statement.

Both her eldest son Prince Charles and daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall also have recently contracted Covid. Charles has since returned to work.

Senior politicians sent get-well messages, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeting “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a quick recovery.” Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer wished the queen “good health and a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Ma’am.”

People in the U.K. who test positive for Covid must self-isolate for at least five days, though the British government said it plans to lift that requirement for England in the coming week.

With her husband Prince Philip by her side, Elizabeth became queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand upon the death of her father, George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952. Her coronation was June 2, 1953.

Philip died at age 99 on April 9, 2021, the 16th anniversary of the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla, and the duke’s funeral was four days before Elizabeth’s 95th birthday on April 21.

Fourteen prime ministers have served under Elizabeth — from Winston Churchill on her accession to the throne in 1952 to Boris Johnson presently.

On an early April day in 2020, the queen appeared in a rare video speech from Windsor Castle to promise her subjects that they will prevail over the coronavirus. The speech aired hours before Johnson was hospitalized for Covid-19. 

“While we have faced challenges before, this one is different,” she said. “This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavor, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.”

During the pandemic, Elizabeth and Philip had been staying at Windsor Castle, where she performed duties remotely. With Covid restrictions easing, she made a rare public appearance at a shrine in nearby Surrey in late March 2021 to mark the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force. 

A day after Philip’s death, daughter-in-law Sophie Countess of Wessex told well-wishers outside Windsor Castle that “the queen has been amazing.” On his casket, Elizabeth left a handwritten note signed “Lilibet,” and on her 95th birthday four days later, she issued a statement saying she had been “deeply touched” by her subjects’ displays of “support and kindness.”

The queen is the latest monarch to contract Covid. Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 82, and Spain’s King Felipe VI, 54, both tested positive earlier in February and each had mild symptoms.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.