Although Queen Elizabeth II may have returned to face-to-face meetings just a few weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 and reportedly only experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms” in February earlier this year, the 95-year-old monarch, who is due to celebrate her 96th birthday later this month, revealed that the virus left her feeling “tired and exhausted.”
Her Majesty dropped the bombshell about her experience with the virus during a Zoom call with some members of staff and former patients at the Royal London Hospital, of which she is a patron, on Wednesday, April 6th, to mark the opening of its Queen Elizabeth Unit.
The Queen had a seemingly cheery disposition throughout the Zoom call – as well as a bright and cheery blue and yellow floral dress, which she teamed with an elegant pearl necklace – so her confession about her experience with the virus certainly came as a surprise to some viewers.
“It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it?” The Queen confessed, while speaking to former COVID patient Asef Hussain and his wife Shamina, who detailed their own devastating experiences with the virus. “This horrible pandemic. It’s not a nice result,” Her Majesty added. She also praised the NHS staff for everything they did throughout the pandemic, calling their work “splendid.”
Nurse Charlie Mort said: "The amount of bravery that both the patients and my colleagues showed throughout the entire pandemic was amazing and the amount of kindness we were shown was inspiring. I think we will all be bonded together because of it, forever." The Queen added: "It’s amazing, isn’t it, what can be done when needs be."
Her Majesty once again praised the work of the NHS staff at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, in particular how lonely it must have been for them to isolate themselves from their loved ones. "It must have been a terrible time for all of you," The Queen acknowledged. "Not seeing your own families and also working so very hard. That was the unusual part of it wasn’t it, not being able to meet your relatives and being isolated."
The Zoom call concluded with Her Majesty talking to and praising the construction team who built the intensive care unit on the 14th and 15th floors in the space of just five weeks, when it would usually have taken around five months. She said: "It is very interesting, isn’t it, when there is some very vital thing, how everybody works together and pulls together – marvelous isn’t it?"
