A member of the Queen’s staff in Balmoral Castle tested positive for COVID this weekend. They have been sent home to self isolate, but despite being exposed to the virus, the Queen has decided to stay in her Scottish retreat.
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The Queen normally visits the castle for her summer break, and this year a source told The Sun that she was hoping to use her time at Balmoral to get things back to normal after the death of her husband, Prince Philip.
Exposed to COVID
During her time there, she’s often visited by a hoard of relatives. Apparently, right now she has a has 'castle full of relatives' and given the amount of people who come and go during the summer, the source revealed that the staff are tested for COVID on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this Saturday one person’s PCR test was positive. The source told The Sun:
All the staff at Balmoral are tested for Covid daily and on Saturday this person showed up as positive.
They were sent home and the staff canteen and bar were shut. They’re on a separate block on the estate.
Workers have been told to wear masks and to socially distance but the royals themselves are pretty much carrying on as they were.
Limiting contact
While the interactions between the staff and the royals are limited, traditionally meals are served by the household workers. The source said that courtiers suggested putting the family’s meals on a buffet table so the royals could help themselves and limit contact with any other members who could be potentially infected. However, the Queen decided against it. The source added:
But the Queen has decided food will continue being served by servants and the family will still go out shooting stag and having picnics on the estate.
Although Her Majesty is 95 and has been double jabbed, the feeling is she still has to be careful yet she’s determined to carry on as normal. She does not want to overreact.
Following the positive case in the castle, all the royals staying in Balmoral skipped Sunday’s church service. According to The Sun, they might be awaiting results of their own PCR tests.
