Prince Charles suffered mild symptoms of COVID-19 in late March. While he said he feels lucky to have gotten away easy from the deadly disease, the Prince of Wales recently admitted that he's still feeling the effects of the coronavirus.
The heir to the throne met with the workers of the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on June 16, his first in-person engagement since the lockdown. He told the hospital staff of his COVID-19 experience and said that he lost his sense of smell and taste.
According to a healthcare assistant, Prince Charles told them of his first-hand experience with the coronavirus and how he's still feeling a loss of smell or taste months after his recovery. The heir to the throne said that having coronavirus was an "awful lot of stress and strain."
Health experts say that losing a sense of smell or taste are two key symptoms of the coronavirus. A significant number of patients who've had coronavirus in China, South Korea and Italy reported developing anosmia and hyposmia.
Much like the common cold virus, the novel coronavirus also impacts the upper respiratory tract that leads to nose congestion. Experts say that patients with COVID-19 have high concentrations of the virus on the nose. When checked under a microscope, this virus appears to have hair-like receptor cells that affect how the nose can pick up scents and odors.
The Prince of Wales was in coronavirus isolation for a week and stayed at one room in his home in Birkhall in Scotland. His wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, was in another room and was negative for the virus.
However, like the rest of the U.K. both royals remained isolated from the public for more than three months, leading Prince Charles to say that he misses hugging his grandchildren. He also said that he and the rest of the royal family keep in touch via video conference calls but a hug and in-person meets are completely different.
Prince Charles and Camilla will be conducting a few in-person engagements this week, including a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France. But since the threats of the virus are still present, the royals are being careful about their engagements and are observing social distancing.
As before the lockdown, Prince Charles once again did away with handshakes and everyone stood at least a few meters apart from each other. However, the royals were not seen wearing masks when they made the surprise visit to the hospital.
