Coronavirus is impacting lives across the world, and royal families are no different. As stringent protection measures are put in place globally to try and stop the spread of Covid-19, several of Europe’s ruling houses are facing challenges shared with thousands around the world.
In Spain, Queen Letizia has undergone tests to see if she has the virus after she met Equality Minister, Irene Montero, earlier in the week. Ms Montero has been confirmed to have Covid-19. Now Spain’s queen, as well as her husband King Felipe, are awaiting the results of checks to see if they have picked up the illness.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Royal Family has altered its projected agenda with a series of engagements for Queen Máxima, Princess Beatrix and Princess Laurentien all cancelled. A statement said that the events they were meant to be attending had been stopped because of new measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The Royal Palace in Amsterdam will also close its doors to visitors until March 31st.
The royal courts of Spain and the Netherlands made their announcements late on March 12th, just hours after the Norwegian Royal Court confirmed that King Harald and Queen Sonja had gone into quarantine as a precautionary measure. New rules in Norway mean that anyone who travelled overseas from February 27th 2020 must self isolate – the royal couple spent the early days of March in Jordan on a State Visit. Harald and his family have also cancelled all their engagements until Easter.
The Danish Royal Family has also cancelled all its planned engagements until April while Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary and their family have returned to Copenhagen from Switzerland. Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine were several months into a planned study stay there but will now resume their education in Denmark once schools in the country re-open. And the 80th birthday celebrations of Queen Margrethe, set for mid April, have also been postponed.
In Sweden, celebrations for the name day of Crown Princess Victoria were called off after the country’s Armed Forces, who lead a parade at the Royal Palace in Stockholm for the event, decided to cancel. It was feared that the large crowds that gather for the event might be at risk of passing the illness between them should someone attend not knowing they had Covid-19. Last week, the Swedish Royal Family postponed a gala dinner over fears it might expose guests to a greater risk of picking up the coronavirus.
The British Royal Family has, as yet, made no changes to its agenda. However, questions have been raised as to the impact the virus might have on plans for the wedding of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi who has family in Italy. There is no word on whether Covid-19 might change the planned State Visit by the Emperor and Empress of Japan, set to take place sometime this spring. The Belgian King and Queen, Philippe and Mathilde, had to put off their March State Visit to Italy when it became clear how big an impact coronavirus had had on that country.
