Queen Elizabeth has tested positive for COVID-19, Buckingham Palace said in a statement Sunday.
"Her Majesty is 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 will follow all the appropriate guidelines."
As if to show that the monarch is still carrying on, shortly after her diagnosis was announced, the palace released a message from the Queen via Twitter congratulating Great Britain's women's curling team for winning a gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen had received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in January 2021 — according to the BBC, she wanted the public to know in order to prevent speculation. Although they have not made any more announcements, it is extraordinarily unlikely that the monarch is not fully vaccinated, given her age.
The health of the 95-year-old sovereign, who celebrates her "Platinum Jubilee," marking 70 years on the throne, this year, has been a topic of public speculation since October, when news broke that she had secretly spent a night in the hospital for undisclosed reasons.
For the past year, she has primarily carried out engagements and attended meetings virtually via video link from Windsor Palace, where she has been living since the early days of the pandemic.
The Queen's COVID diagnosis, however, comes after a spate of in-person events over the past few weeks.
She celebrated the day of her accession to the throne with a small group of people, who were pictured without masks, on Feb. 5.
🍰💐The Queen cut a special cake, baked by a local resident, and was given a posy containing flowers featured in her 1953 Coronation bouquet.
Then, on Feb. 10, her son and heir Prince Charles tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time — two days after he had a meeting with the Queen in private at Windsor.
On Wednesday, she met in person with Maj. Gen. Eldon Millar, the incoming defense services secretary, and Rear Adm. James Macleod, his predecessor. In pictures released to the media, the two men are seen standing at a distance from the Queen and unmasked.
The BBC and ITV reported Sunday that there has also been an outbreak of the coronavirus among Windsor Castle staffers.
The incubation period between exposure to the coronavirus and development of symptoms is estimated to be between 5 and 14 days.