The Queen has signed off a personal message to Team GB's curling teams just hours after testing positive for Covid-19.
Despite the concerning diagnosis and suffering "mild symptoms", the Monarch hopes to continue with "light duties" at Windsor Castle.
And among her first tasks was to send her congratulations to the talented sports team following their success at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
She wrote: "I send my warmest congratulations to the Team GB Women’s Curling team on your outstanding performance in winning the Gold Medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, following the Silver Medal achieved by the Men’s Curling team yesterday.
"I know that your local communities and people throughout the United Kingdom will join me in sending our good wishes to you, your coaches and the friends and family who have supported you in your great success."
The Queen’s next public duty is a reception at Windsor Castle on March 2, by which time she should “hopefully” have recovered from the virus.
The Royal Household has its own royal physicians and the Queen’s doctors will be on hand to take care of and monitor the head of state, with Professor Sir Huw Thomas, head of the Medical Household and Physician to the Queen, expected to be in charge.
Her diagnosis follows a string of Covid cases among the royal family and the Queen’s Windsor Castle team, with the Prince of Wales meeting the monarch the week he tested positive, and the Duchess of Cornwall also isolating after contracting the virus.
Confirming the news, a statement from Buckingham Palace read: "Buckingham Palace confirm that The Queen has today tested positive for Covid.
"Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.
"She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines."
Majesty magazine's Joe Little says the Queen will respond to her coronavirus diagnosis in a “matter-of-fact” manner.
He said: "I think the Queen is very stoic in every way.
“I would guess that she will be matter-of-fact about the diagnosis in a way perhaps that the people around her are less matter-of-fact.”
He added that there is “cause for concern” given that the Queen is two months away from turning 96, but it is believed she has the protection of three Covid vaccinations.
Mr Little said: “In the coming days a very close eye will be kept on her and the indications are that, all being well, it’s nothing more than a minor inconvenience.”
When asked how he thinks the royal family will have taken the news, he said: “They will be alarmed, but quite a few of those members of her family, the Prince of Wales in particular, have had Covid.
“He has had it twice, Prince William has had it and other members of the family have had it, but clearly they are not as old as the Queen.
“The irony is that for such a long time the Queen has been kept in a protective bubble, in the early stages of the pandemic, and had a very small number of staff with her in the bubble.
“Things have moved on since then and she’s been receiving people at Windsor Castle as she did only a few days ago.”
“Only recently the Queen of Denmark who is in her eighties had Covid and was in isolation for a few days and then recovered,” he added.
“Hopefully this will be the same for Queen Elizabeth II.”
