Back to business! Days after Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive for coronavirus, she has resumed her daily schedule of meetings and appointments — from afar.
The sovereign, 95, attended her weekly conversation with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, February 23, the palace confirmed to royal reporter Omid Scobie. Following her regularly scheduled meeting with Johnson, 57, Elizabeth has two virtual appointments scheduled for Thursday, February 24. However, the palace told Scobie that it’s TBD whether they will go on as planned.
The monarch’s illness made headlines on Sunday, February 20, as the palace confirmed that she was “experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.”
“She will continue to receive medical attention and follow guidelines,” the Sunday statement to Us Weekly continued.
Amid her health battle, Elizabeth canceled her Tuesday, February 22, virtual meetings as she recovered.
“As Her Majesty is still experiencing mild cold-like symptoms she has decided not to undertake her planned virtual engagements today, but will continue with light duties,” Buckingham Palace explained via a Tuesday statement.
Despite skipping out on a few royal engagements, Elizabeth remained committed to her regal duties.
“Of course, she has a team of doctors to lean on whenever needed and a support staff that’s second to none,” a source exclusively told Us of her progress. “But thus far Her Majesty has been handling this without any fuss or need to involve too many others in her recovery.”
The long-running regent previously received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in January 2021 alongside her husband, Prince Philip. (The Duke of Edinburgh died in April 2021 at age 99.)
“[The shot] was very quick, and I’ve had lots of letters from people who have been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine,” she recalled during a February 2021 virtual meeting with U.K. health officials, per The Guardian. “And the jab — it didn’t hurt at all.”
The queen continued at the time: “Once you’ve had the vaccine, you have a feeling of, you know, you’re protected, which is I think very important. I think the other thing is, that it is obviously difficult for people if they’ve never had a vaccine … but they ought to think about other people rather than themselves. I think it is remarkable how quickly the whole thing has been done and so many people have had the vaccine already.”
Elizabeth’s COVID-19 bout comes days after Us confirmed that both Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla had tested positive and were self-isolating.
