Prince William kept his coronavirus illness secret for six months
It has been revealed that Prince William has kept a coronavirus infection secret for six months.
It was apparently so bad that he was struggling to breathe.
The Duke of Cambridge contracted the virus in April, just weeks after his father Prince Charles, but he decided not to announce his diagnosis as he was concerned it would cause further public alarm.
It happened in April when William was spending the lockdown in Norfolk with Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
He did not require hospital treatment but he was seen by Palace doctors and his symptoms were fairly severe.
Even though he was suffering from difficult breathing, he still kept doing some of his duties including a virtual engagement when he opened Birmingham’s emergency Nightingale hospital via video link on April 16.
Given one member of the Royal Family had already contracted the Covid-19 - his father at the end of March - Prince William and his aides concluded that to go public would risk unsettling the nation still further at a very nerve wracking time.
The UK was into the first few weeks of the Spring lockdown.
The Queen gave a rare national address in April in an attempt to provide some form a reassurance to a worried nation as cases and deaths were rising at an alarming rate.
It is understood that the Duchess of Cambridge and the couple’s three children did not contract the virus – just as Camilla did not catch it from Prince Charles.
The Cambridges spent many months at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, the house they have on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate, and it’s not known if he contracted the virus there or when he was working from Kensington Palace in London in the weeks before the move.
At the time, Prince Charles was the most high profile person to have announced he had tested positive. The Prime Minister was to follow shortly afterwards.
Whilst William and his aides might have taken their decision in good faith, questions might be raised about the wisdom of hiding such significant news from the public – who often prefer their public figures to be honest and truthful.
Prince William is second in line to the throne.