The Queen has tested positive for coronavirus in a “torrid” start to her historic Platinum Jubilee year.
Barely two months into 2022, the 95-year-old monarch has fallen ill with Covid-19 in an already turbulent week for the royals.
Buckingham Palace on Sunday announced the head of state was experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms” after coming into direct contact with her eldest son and heir the Prince of Wales the week he had the disease.
The shock announcement comes just weeks after the nation’s longest-reigning monarch reached her historic Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne on 6 February.
It also follows a bad week for the royals which saw key members of the family struggle to stay out of the headlines.
The Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced it had launched an investigation into cash-for-honours allegations linked to the Prince of Wales’s charity.
This came just a day after it emerged Prince Andrew had reached a multi-million-pound out of court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, the Jeffrey Epstein victim who accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her while she was underage in the US.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s High Court claim against a Home Office decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when visiting the UK also had its first hearing on Friday.
All of this comes less than a year after the Queen lost her husband of 73 years, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died at the age of 99 in April 2021.
Here, we take a look at what royal expert Anna Whitelock has described as a “torrid few weeks” for the Queen, and the difficult year that preceded it.
Prince Andrew sex case settlement
On Tuesday 15 February, it emerged the Queen’s second son Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, had agreed an out of court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, the Jeffrey Epstein victim who accused the royal of sexually abusing her while she was underage in the US.
The duke is set to pay in the region of £10-12million, according to varying reports, which will include damages to Ms Giuffre and a donation to a charity “in support of victims’ rights,” to stop the case proceeding to a civil trial.
In a joint statement confirming the settlement, the prince said he regretted his association with the late American financier Epstein, who he acknowledged “trafficked countless young girls over many years”.
The Duke of York, who had reportedly come under pressure from the Queen not to take the case to court, said he also accepted that Ms Giuffre was “an established victim of abuse” who had been subjected to “unfair public attacks” and said he “commends the bravery” of her and other survivors.
The prince has always strongly denied the allegations against him.
Prince Charles honours row
The Metropolitan Police released a statement on Thursday 17 February revealing the force had launched an investigation into cash-for-honours allegations linked to Prince Charles’ charity.
The probe into The Prince’s Foundation came following reports that offers of financial help were made to secure honours and citizenship for a Saudi national.
Pressure group Republic contacted the Metropolitan Police last September and reported both the future king and Michael Fawcett – Prince Charles’s former royal valet – on suspicion of breaching the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.
Mr Fawcett, who has since resigned as chief executive of The Prince’s Foundation, was accused of promising to help secure a knighthood and British citizenship for a Saudi billionaire donor.
At the time Clarence House said the prince had “no knowledge” of the alleged cash-for-honours scandal.
The police investigation came just days after Dame Cressida Dick resigned from her role as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
In December, Dame Cressida said the force had not opened an investigation into the allegations, but would consider further evidence if it became available.
Prince Harry’s security court hearing
Prince Harry’s High Court claim against a Home Office decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when visiting the UK had its first hearing on Friday.
The Duke of Sussex, who did not attend, wants to bring his two children to visit from the US, but he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous, his legal representative said.
Harry’s family lost their taxpayer-funded police protection after quitting their positions as senior working royals in the early part of 2020.
He is arguing that his private protection team in the US, where he lives with wife Meghan Markle and their children, does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to the UK intelligence information needed to keep his family safe.
Senior royals struck down by Covid
A number of other senior royals have been struck down by Covid during the pandemic, including Prince Charles, his wife Camilla and Prince William.
Charles tested positive for the virus on Thursday 10 February – the day after he and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall attended a reception alongside scores of other people at the British Museum.
Charles had also met with the Queen just two days earlier.
It was the second time the prince had contracted Covid, after he fell ill with the virus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and lost his sense of taste and smell.
Camilla later tested positive for the first time on Monday 14 February.
Prince William also contracted the disease early on in the pandemic in April 2020 but the news was not made public at the time.
According to report in The Sun several months later, the duke was hit “pretty hard” by the virus and struggled to breathe at one point.
Prince Philip’s death
The recent royal troubles followed an equally challenging 2021 for the Queen.
On 17 April , the world watched as the Queen sat alone during the funeral for her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The couple were married for73 years and he had been by her side from the beginning of her reign in 1952, making him the longest-serving consort in British history. He died at the age of 99 on 9 April 2021.
The Queen was supported by her lady-in-waiting Lady Susan on the day, who rode with her Majesty en route to the funeral.
But she sat alone during the service as social distancing between households was mandatory under government guidance at the time.
A sombre image of the Queen sitting alone in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle touched many across the world, who expressed their sorrow and sympathy for the monarch.
