How the Queen is Protecting Herself Against Coronavirus

The Queen has departed Buckingham Palace for Windsor Castle as the coronavirus epidemic grips London, and though the 93-year-old monarch is at high risk for the virus, she will have a team of the best medics on hand while she keeps up as much of her schedule as she can.

Dr. Anna Hemming, who was the resident in-house doctor to the Queen and the royal family from 2008 to 2014, told Vanity Fair that the monarch, who today addressed the virus in a statement, is in “the best possible place and with the best possible team” taking care of her. “The Queen is being carefully advised and she has a brilliant team supporting her,” Hemming said.

While the Queen’s aides have postponed a number of engagements and rescheduled a state visit, the Queen has continued working and was receiving audiences at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. “While she has had audiences, her staff will have done background checks and very few will have been present,” Hemming said. “It’s right that they have cancelled her domestic engagements so she doesn’t come into contact with crowds or a denser population of people.”

Dr Hemming, who served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps before working for the Royal Household, noted that Prince Philip is “more vulnerable” because of his previous health complications and his advancing age. But he, like the Queen, is in good hands. “I’m sure the Queen will be incredibly calm throughout this and she’ll be well briefed,” Hemming said. “One of her favorite places is Windsor where she’ll be very well looked after.”

And if the Queen has seemed calmer than most people in this difficult past week, that’s for a reason, Hemming added: “She has lived through some difficult times and experienced things most of us haven’t. She won’t want to scare the population [by disappearing], but she is doing what is best for herself and her family and the greater population.”

While the palace have not commented, it is possible that the Queen—who has been in contact with members of the public in recent days—will choose to self-isolate for 14 days in order to protect her husband, who is 98. According to Dr Hemming, who now works at the Cranley Clinic in London, there will be a strategy in place. “The royal household is set up to look after and manage any kind of situation,” she said. “They have precautions in place. I would have thought they’ll be making sure anyone who is unwell is put in isolation and there is a dedicated team of cleaners to keep the royal residences clean.“

While Windsor Castle doesn’t have an operating room (Buckingham Palace has a room which has in the past been used for surgery), there is a full time team of medics on hand should the Queen or any members of the family become ill. For now, though, the health advice is likely pretty standard. “I would be advising the Queen to stay hydrated, have good levels of vitamin C and zinc and be taking a good multi vitamin,” Hemming said. “The castle is big enough that the can minimize the number of people that circulate around her.”

And in keeping with the government’s guidelines for older people, Hemming would advise the Queen not see her grandchildren for the time being—even though two of them, Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn (the children of the Earl and Countess of Wessex), live near the castle. ‘It’s a decision they have to make but the advice I’m giving and that the Government is giving is don’t let children mix with the older generation. It’s not sensible.”

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