Kensington Palace is being so unnecessarily squirrelly about the Duchess of Cambridge’s exposure to Covid and the timeline of when she was likely exposed and when she learned she was exposed. KP still refuses to say anything on-the-record about just what happened, but “sources” are being sent out to brief the Daily Mail and, I would assume, the rest of the Royal Rota. It’s looking like Kate was not *exposed* to Covid at Wimbledon on Friday, but that is where she learned she had been exposed to someone with Covid. The Mail did a pretty good tick-tock of Kate’s day at Wimbledon – her arrival on the outer courts just after 11 am, her entrance in the Royal Box on Center Court around 1 pm and her haste in exiting the Royal Box just before 5 pm. The Mail and their sources suggest that Kate actually found out about her Covid-exposure in the Royal Box, as she chatted with the Duke of Kent.
This is the likely moment the Duchess of Cambridge rushed herself from the Royal Box at Wimbledon having learned she had to self-isolate. Kate is understood to have been alerted personally and was not ‘pinged’ by the NHS Test and Trace app, leaving the All England Club at 5pm on Friday – significantly earlier than she has done in previous years – and missing the match involving her friend Andy Murray. She was alerted after taking her seat next to the Duke of Kent and in front of Body Coach Joe Wicks, but left ‘immediately’ after being told she had come close to someone who tested positive for coronavirus, according to The Times.
On Friday Kate spotted looking serious as she was driven out of Wimbledon’s gates heading for Kensington Palace, where she is holed up today and unable to leave – even for food or medicine. She is not permitted to have visitors in her home, including family and friends, and will even have been told to avoid contact with anyone she lives with as much as possible.
Sources stressed that she followed rules laid down at Wimbledon, which require visitors to wear a mask when moving through the grounds at SW19 but not while sitting in the stands.
The duchess is said to have had her second vaccination even though it is only just over five weeks since she released pictures of her getting her first at the Science Museum in London. Until yesterday, the guidelines stipulated an 11 or 12-week gap between jabs for under-40s not classed as vulnerable, although in some cases a shorter wait was allowed.
Her ten-day self-isolation period includes the day on which she was last in contact with the person who tested positive. If it was on Wednesday, she could, in theory, be free to return to official duties by the weekend.
MailOnline understands she was alerted about the contact with a Covid-infected person on Friday afternoon – after spending most of the day at Wimbledon with VIPs including Tim Henman, who is not self-isolating. It means she must quarantine for ten days even if she tests negative, which she has, up to four times, in the past seven days including before and after her Wembley trip with William and George.
It makes a lot of sense (with the timeline) if she was alerted by message or ping or whatever while she sat in the Royal Box on Friday. I assumed she was there to watch British players play back-to-back on Center Court – Brit Dan Evans was playing first (after the women’s match) and then Andy Murray after that. She didn’t get to finish watching Dan Evans’ match and she wasn’t there for Andy’s match. And the Mail absolutely seems to be suggesting that she was exposed on Wednesday, at the football match she attended with William and George. It’s very curious. Also curious how sources insist she’s had both of her shots even though they were supposed to be spaced out a lot further? Curiouser and curiouser!
Photos courtesy of Getty.
