The Queen has continued with her official engagements from home, following the news that both Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall tested positive for coronavirus.
The 95-year-old monarch held two virtual audiences with the Estonian and Spanish ambassadors from Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Wearing a floral dress, she could be seen on screen as she spoke by video link with the Estonian ambassador to the UK Viljar Lubi.
This comes after Prince Charles tested positive for Covid a week ago, with concern mounting for the monarch because she had met with him two days prior.
Buckingham Palace has refused to confirm whether the Queen had tested positive or negative for the virus, citing medical privacy. It reported last week that she was not displaying any symptoms.
In keeping with current guidelines, the monarch will be taking daily lateral flow tests over the next week.
She has spent most of the pandemic at Windsor Castle, where she was cared for in lockdown in HMS Bubble, the nickname given to her reduced household of dedicated staff.
It is the first time the Queen has been photographed since she reached her historic Platinum Jubilee milestone on 6 February, and endorsed her daughter-in-law – the Duchess of Cornwall – to be known as Queen when Charles becomes King.
Clarence House has confirmed that Camilla caught Covid just four days after the prince tested positive, and is also self-isolating.
During the virtual audience, Mr Lubi presented his credentials and his predecessor’s letters of recall to the Queen, placing them on an antique wooden table in front of the flat screen monitor – a new way to conduct royal business.
Mr Lubi was accompanied by EU law and financial advisor Maarja Junti, who was also received by the monarch.
At the second audience, Spanish ambassador Jose Pascual Marco Martinez, accompanied by his wife Geraldine Dufort, also presented his letters of credence at the second audience.
