Responses and inspirational messages about coronavirus have already come from a pretty substantial portion of the royal family: Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and more. But with Wednesday’s news that Prince Charles had tested positive and was showing mild symptoms of COVID-19, it’s only natural that we would see further shows of solidarity from the family. On Thursday, even Charles’s grandchildren got involved when the Kensington Palace Instagram shared a video of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis showing their enthusiasm for the medical professionals of the U.K.:
As a part of a coordinated social media campaign called Clap for Carers, Kate and William filmed their children giving a round of applause in what is seemingly the backyard of their country house, Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Though they often visit for weekends, the family has moved from London to Norfolk due to the coronavirus crisis. It’s the first spotting of Louis that the public has gotten since the Cambridges released their holiday card in December.
Around the same time, another node of the family joined in on the virtual celebration. The official royal family accounts shared a video of Prince Edward, Sophie, Lady Louise, and James, Viscount Severn clapping outside of their Windsor residence:
“From all of us, just a huge thank you to all of you working on the front line. We really appreciate it, keep up the fantastic work,” Edward said. Though they are quarantined in Birkhall, their country home in Scotland, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Charles also found a way to show their support. On the Clarence House Twitter, they posted pictures of various engagements where they got to shake hands with doctors, nurses, and midwives:
They also shared instructions for their followers to show their support for the NHS while still maintaining social distance by gathering in their yards or balconies on Thursday night.
After a case of coronavirus was identified at Buckingham Palace, much of the family’s staff is working from home for the forseeable future. But their communications officers are using the opportunity to explore technologies that might help a royal family more accustomed to letter-writing and hand-shaking thrive in the era of self-isolation. For their first outing, the newly tech-savvy royal family went with a memorable—and adorable—social media challenge.
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