queen balmoral© Photo: Rex

The Queen remains at Balmoral as staff member tests positive for COVID-19 - report

The monarch, 95, has been double vaccinated

Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
August 17, 2021

The Queen has remained at Balmoral after a staff member reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 at the Scottish estate.

The monarch, who is 95 and double vaccinated, will remain at her private castle in Aberdeenshire as planned.

The employee was sent home on Saturday following a PCR test, The Sun reports.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

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The Queen travelled to Balmoral for her traditional summer break last month and was officially welcomed to her Scottish residence during a short ceremony last week.

It marks Her Majesty's first stay at the estate since the death of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh in April.

The monarch has since been joined by several family members, including the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of York and his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, and Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank, and their six-month-old son, August.

It's likely that the Queen will also be visited by the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children later this month.

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© Photo: Rex

The Queen was officially welcomed to Balmoral last week

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Queen and Prince Philip took up residence at Windsor Castle where they remained for the next year with a small team of staff dubbed 'HMS Bubble'.

The Duke passed away at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle on 9 April and his funeral service took place at St George's Chapel eight days later, attended by 30 members of his family in line with government guidelines at the time.

The Queen typically stays at her Balmoral estate until mid-October when she is likely to return to Windsor Castle.

Despite being on holiday, work still continues for the head of state. Every day she receives from Government ministers, and from her representatives in the Commonwealth and foreign countries, information in the form of policy papers, Cabinet documents and other State papers for her attention.

These are sent up to her by private secretaries in the red boxes also used by Government ministers to carry confidential documents.

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