COVID has left the Queen “weary and fatigued”. The 95-year-old monarch, who was infected with the virus in February, revealed her admission last week in a video conference with NHS workers and patients.
'It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn't it?' she said. This dreadful pandemic. It's not a pleasant outcome.'
The Queen was believed to have mild cold-like symptoms' when Buckingham Palace confirmed that she had tested positive at Windsor. She did not participate in scheduled video conversations when she was having her weekly meeting with the Prime Minister.
The cancellations were made because she sounded "croaky" and "full of cold," not because her health had deteriorated. She also declined to participate in the annual Commonwealth Day service, owing to mobility issues.
However, it appears that the Queen, like many others who have contracted Covid, is suffering from side effects such as excessive weariness. She has been triple-jabbed and is likely to have received her second booster injection by now.
This will undoubtedly exacerbate her recent health issues, which resulted in her needing hospital treatment last autumn and preventing her from conducting an engagement outside the royal walls for six months.
The monarch missing out on the Commonwealth Day
The Queen was notably absent from the Commonwealth Day Service on March 14, which was attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in her absence.
Even before getting COVID, doctors had issued rest orders to the monarch, and she was forced to cancel a two-day trip to Northern Ireland on October 20 at the last minute.
The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on November 1st, for which the Queen recorded a video message, the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 10th, and the National Service of Remembrance on November 14th were all affected events before Christmas.
Back to Her Royal Duties
During the end of last month, she was finally seen in public at the Duke of Edinburgh's thanksgiving ceremony.
While she has stoically continued video calls and audiences after withdrawing from this week's Maundy Service at Windsor for the first time ever due to her mobility and handing duty to the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
The state opening of Parliament in May, the Derby at Epsom, the Trooping of the Colour in June, and a special ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral that same month to honor her Platinum Jubilee are reported to be considered priorities for the Queen to attend in person.
The Queen, who will turn 96 next week, attended the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Unit at The Royal London Hospital, of which she is patron, this week, speaking with employees and a past patient.
She claimed the staff's work was'splendid,' while wearing a floral frock and a pearl necklace.
'The amount of bravery that both the patients and my colleagues shown throughout the epidemic was extraordinary, and the amount of kindness we were shown was astounding,' said nurse Charlie Mort. I believe it will bind us all together for the rest of our lives.'
'Isn't it fantastic, isn't it, what can be done when it's needed?' exclaimed the Queen.
Families 'had a sense of optimism' when they learned that hospital chaplain Imam Faruq Siddiqi was visiting their loved ones, according to hospital chaplain Imam Faruq Siddiqi.
'Although I didn't have any miracles, I hope my presence and prayers were able to bring some type of peace to them,' he said.
'It was certainly a really terrible experience to have Covid so badly, wasn't it?' said the Queen.
Mireia Lopez Rey Ferrer, a senior sister who has worked at the Whitechapel Hospital in east London since 2008, spoke to the Queen about the hospital's dedication to the patients.
"As nurses, we made sure they weren't alone," she explained. We comforted them by holding their hands, wiping their tears, and holding their hands.
"It is quite amazing, isn't it, when there is some very critical issue, how everybody works together and pulls together - marvellous isn't it?" the Queen said at the end of the conversation to the construction team that built the unit on the hospital's 14th and 15th floors in record time.”
"Thank heavens it still exists," the monarch said when the team praised the "Dunkirk spirit" that had inspired them.
Her envoy, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London Sir Kenneth Olisa, formally opened the unit by unveiling a plaque at the hospital.