Queen Elizabeth Is Carrying on With 'Light Duties' Despite Canceling Virtual Appearances, Source Says

Queen Elizabeth is continuing to focus on her health and only taking on “light duties” as she recovers from COVID-19. According to a Palace spokesperson, "the two virtual audiences that had previously been scheduled to take place today with the queen will be rescheduled for a later date. Her Majesty is continuing with light duties. No other engagements are scheduled for this week."

ET has also learned that part of the 95-year-old monarch’s tasks have included keeping up with her red boxes, which contain government advisories and parliamentary papers at her desk. The royal is also scheduled to attend a diplomatic reception on March 2, but her attendance will be reevaluated closer to the date.  

On Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced that the queen was forgoing any virtual engagements in order to focus on her health and that the scheduled audiences have been moved to a later date.

On Wednesday, a source confirmed to ET that Her Majesty held her weekly audience with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Normally, the conversation would have been held in-person. However, due to the queen’s positive COVID test, the two spoke over the telephone.  

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the queen canceled a series of virtual engagements, as she was still feeling under the weather. Buckingham Palace released a statement giving an update on the royal’s health. “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," it read.  

The Palace confirmed on Sunday that the monarch tested positive for COVID-19, but was only experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms.” ET learned that she was both vaccinated and boosted. ET's royal expert, Katie Nicholl, said the queen's return to "light duties" is "very encouraging." 

"I have spoken to the senior Palace aides who assure me that the queen is in good spirits and she's suffering, I'm told, with cold-like symptoms, and that is why she chose to cancel a recent virtual audience," Nicholl shared.  

"I think anyone that's got a cold and a runny nose and just not feeling a hundred percent, the last thing that they want to do is be on camera and have an audience. And of course when the queen's doing it, it's watched by many, many people around the world, so I do not get the impression that there's a real cause for concern," Nicholl said. "I think cautious is probably the word that's being used much more so than alarm." 

The queen’s diagnosis came days after her son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, tested positive for COVID-19. 

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