Queen Elizabeth has canceled planned engagements for a second time this week following her positive COVID-19 diagnosis, which was confirmed over the weekend.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement Thursday that “two virtual audiences that had previously been scheduled to take place today will now be rescheduled for a later date.”
The palace added that the queen “is continuing with light duties” and that “no other engagements are scheduled for this week.”
It was revealed on Sunday that the sovereign had tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also tested positive.
At the time, the palace said the queen “was experiencing mild cold-like symptoms,” but that she was expected to continue with light duties while staying in Windsor.
Two days later, the palace said the queen was “still experiencing mild cold-like symptoms” and had canceled planned virtual engagements for that day.
Later on Tuesday, the U.S.-based blog Hollywood Unlocked shared a fake “exclusive” hoax claiming that Queen Elizabeth was dead. The hoax spread like wildfire on social media and the rest of the internet, especially after the blog’s CEO, Jason Lee, doubled down on the claims Wednesday on Twitter.
On Wednesday evening, Buckingham Palace shared that the queen had had her weekly call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which seemingly silenced all hoax rumors, though the palace did not comment on them directly.
The queen has several planned in-person engagements on the horizon, including celebrations in June for her Platinum Jubilee, which will mark her astonishing 70 years on the throne.
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