The Duke of York has tested positive for Covid and will no longer attend the Queen’s Thanksgiving Jubilee Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, Buckingham Palace said.
A spokesman for the palace said: “After a routine test, the duke has tested positive for Covid and will regretfully stop attending tomorrow’s service.”
It is understood that Andrew has seen the queen in recent days, but has been doing regular tests and has not seen her since she tested positive. The 96-year-old queen tested positive for Covid in February and later said she was exhausted.
Andrew was expected to join the family at the event despite not being invited to the color ceremony at the Horse Guard parade on Thursday. Nor did he join other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the RAF’s passage afterwards.
The queen decided in advance that only working members of the royal family would be on the balcony. Andrew has been stripped of his SAR title, royal sponsorships and affiliations after paying millions to settle a U.S. civil case filed by Virginia Giuffre, who was trafficked by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and who accused the prince of having – sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old. The duke denied the allegations.
He resigned from public life after a disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein.