Coronavirus: The Queen wears large white gloves to hand out honours at Buckingham Palace

The 93-year-old monarch does not normally wear gloves at the ceremony

The Queen has been pictured wearing large white gloves during an investiture at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Usually, the 93-year-old monarch does not wear gloves at the ceremony at which she is required to hand out honours and fasten the awards on to the recipient’s clothing.

However, on this occasion, the Queen was photographed wearing long white gloves over her outfit.

The Queen pictured making Dame Rose Tremain from Norwich a Dame Commander of the British Empire during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 3 March (PA)

Buckingham Palace declined to confirm to The Independent whether or not the Queen wore the gloves as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Palace would also not confirm whether it was the first time the monarch has ever worn gloves at a ceremony of this kind and would not comment on her outfit.

Marnie Gaffney from Kingston-Upon-Thames is made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in November 2019. (PA)

Many Twitter users have commented on the Queen’s choice to wear gloves during Tuesday’s ceremony, with some arguing that the monarch often wears gloves during public events.

However, a recent photograph from an investiture in November 2019 shows that the Queen was not in fact wearing gloves at the time.

The number of cases of coronavirus in the UK is currently 51, with more than 92,100 people having contracted the illness globally in at least 71 countries.

The World Health Organisation has issued standard recommendations to prevent infection spread such as regular hand washing, covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.