Royals

Prince Charles Steps Out After COVID Diagnosis for Outing with Princess Anne amid Charity Scandal

The outing comes after police launched an investigation into Prince Charles' charity amid allegations that donations were made to secure honors and British citizenship for a Saudi businessman

By

Stephanie Petit

Published on February 17, 2022 12:34 PM

Prince Charles and Princess Anne stepped out for a rare brother-sister outing on Thursday.

Appearing for the first time since testing positive for COVID-19 last week, Charles joined his sister at St. James's Palace on Friday to hand out The Queen's Anniversary Prizes. The awards are given every two years to universities and colleges whose work has been judged to show excellence, innovation and impact and to be of a benefit to society.

Prince Charles, 73, sipped a cup of tea as he and Princess Anne, 71, mingled with the guests in the Queen Anne Room at the reception following the ceremony.

prince charles and princess anne — Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Kirsty O'Connor - WPA Pool/Getty Images

On February 10, Prince Charles' office at Clarence House announced that the royal heir had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating. The diagnosis also meant his scheduled events in Winchester that day had to be canceled.

Charles first tested positive for the viral disease at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

The COVID-19 scare extended to Queen Elizabeth after it was revealed that Prince Charles had seen his mother two days prior to the positive test result. However, the monarch, 95, was monitored and had a busy week of events, including an in-person meeting at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

On Monday, Prince Charles' wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall also tested positive for COVID.

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The outing also comes one day after the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into Prince Charles' charity following allegations that donations were made to secure official honors and British citizenship for a Saudi businessman.

Charles's office reiterated their statement from September, saying, "The Prince of Wales had no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities."