Yahoo News Coronavirus: Royal Family shares picture of Queen on the phone to Boris Johnson
The Royal Family has shared a rare image of the Queen’s weekly audience with Boris Johnson as she holds it over the phone.
The Queen meets weekly with the sitting prime minister, a regular meeting she has hosted since taking the throne.
But amid the coronavirus pandemic, the meeting has moved to being held on the phone, rather than in person.
The photo, of the Queen at Windsor Castle, comes after her son was revealed to be the first British royal to have contracted the disease.
The Queen held her weekly Audience with the Prime Minister today by telephone. Her Majesty - pictured this evening at Windsor Castle - has held a weekly Audience with her Prime Minister throughout her reign. pic.twitter.com/9rYoLTfkO4
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 25, 2020
Prince Charles, 71, is self-isolating separately from his wife Camilla at their Scottish home in Balmoral, after a test confirmed he had COVID-19.
Camilla, who is called the Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, has tested negative.
Charles is thought to have been contagious around 13 March. He last saw the Queen on 12 March but she is said to be in good health.
Read more: Coronavirus: Why did Prince Charles get tested for COVID-19?
On Wednesdays, the Queen holds an audience with the Prime Minister in the evening following PM’s Questions in the House of Commons.
This can vary if either the Queen or the Prime Minister are away. The day will either be changed or they speak on the telephone.
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The Royal Family has also used its social media accounts to praise and thank those responding to the coronavirus crisis.
On Wednesday, they thanked volunteers up and down the country who are responding, as well as noting how many people had replied to the government’s call for 250,000 people to specifically help vulnerable people during the COVID-19 outbreak.
📸 Here, The Queen is pictured meeting volunteers at a reception marking 100 years of the @NCVO.
The Queen is Patron of the @NCVO and @RoyalVolService, which helps people in need in both hospitals and communities across the UK. pic.twitter.com/nP40vkhYzc— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 25, 2020
More than 400,000 people signed up after the plea from Matt Hancock, the health secretary.
In another message, the Royal Family wrote: “Thank you to organisations such as the @RoyalVolService who have been supporting and furthering this recruitment drive. Volunteers always have a huge role to play in society, but never more so than in difficult times - and for that we salute you.”
It’s understood the Queen will make a televised address to the nation at some point.
Read more: Coronavirus: Royal Family postpones more engagements as UK enters effective lockdown
Her grandson Prince William and his wife Kate paid a visit to an NHS 111 call centre last week to thank staff who are responding to the public.
William was also the first royal to make a public statement on COVID-19, helping the National Emergencies Trust to launch a fundraising appeal.
According to the Press Association, members of the Royal Family are holding their meetings by telephone now. Charles, the Duke of Cambridge and the Earl of Wessex have all participated in telephone meetings or video conferences over the past couple of days.
