Prince Charles was briefly out of quarantine during the commemoration of VE Day in Balmoral on May 8. His public appearance, however, reportedly, sparked health fears and prompted his royal aides to impose a media blackout.
According to reports, the exact details of Prince Charles' first public appearance since the coronavirus pandemic was not disclosed to the press. There were legitimate concerns that the public will gather in Balmoral, risking a virus infection not only to the future king but among the spectators.
On VE Day, Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, led the two-minute silence during the annual public ceremony for war veterans. The press was informed that members of the royal family would be present that day but they were not told of the exact details and the identities of the royals were concealed.
"They were very careful not to disclose that location where Charles and Camilla would be leading the silence from," Lizzie Robinson of ITV said. She added that the royal aides wouldn't reveal the "who, where and how" of the memorial because they want to avoid people gathering and looking for the royals.
Robinson also said that their exact location was not revealed even as they later found out Prince Charles and Camilla would be leading the public memorial. The royal aides didn't want to risk it since the ceremony took place in a publicly accessible area in Balmoral.
Prince Charles was infected by the coronavirus in March and had to be in self-isolation for a week. The Prince of Wales, however, experienced only mild symptoms. While his wife, Camilla, tested negative, she had to be in self-isolation for two weeks.
In an interview on BBC, Prince William said that they were quite concerned about his father's coronavirus diagnosis, as there were many risks given the age of his father. However, the Duke of Cambridge also said that he knew his father was going to beat coronavirus but he was more concerned of Prince Charles in confinement. Prince William said that, perhaps, the hardest for Prince Charles in isolation was he could not get fresh air and go for a walk.
Prince Charles and Camilla will remain in Birkhall at the Balmoral estate while the quarantine orders are still in place in the U.K. It's unclear when the royal family members may have a face-to-face royal event since public gatherings are still not allowed.
