Will the Queen get the coronavirus vaccine?

‘I’m not sure they’ll do it on camera, but I’m sure arrangements will be made’ said foreign secretary Dominic Raab

(Rex Features)

On 8 December, the first person in the world got the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in the UK - 90-year-old Margaret Keenan at Coventry hospital. Keenan’s history-making jab was shortly followed by a second patient, a man from Warwickshire, William Shakespeare.

The rapid rollout of the vaccination on the NHS follows the approval of the jab by the UK regulator last week, and the purchase of 40 million doses by the government. Unlike coronavirus testing services, which have developed a public and private market in the course of 2020, the vaccine will be distributed by the national health service for free.

This means celebrities, politicians, the rich and famous, and even the royal family, aren’t likely to be able to jump the queue. Instead a vaccine timeline has been drawn up based on a medically-approved priority list: those over 80 and frontline health and care workers, followed in descending brackets of age (75 and over, then 70 and over). 

As a result of this age prioritisation, the Queen, who is 94, and Prince Philip, 99 (he will celebrate his 100th birthday in June 2021) are near the front of the line anyway. But are they expected to have the vaccination? And if they do, will the public be told?

Will the Queen get the vaccine?

The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, have spent most of 2020 in isolation with a small group of staff known as the HMS Bubble. They have even cancelled their traditional Sandringham family Christmas, opting instead to remain at Windsor for the festive season.

Both are thought to be in good health but Philip has spent some time in hospital in recent years, most recently in December 2019. In April, the Duke of Cambridge indicated he had been concerned about his grandparent’s health during the pandemic - especially following the news that his father, Prince Charles, had tested positive for the virus.

He said: “Obviously I think very carefully about my grandparents, who are the age they're at, we're doing everything we can to make sure that they're isolated away and protected.”

Since the development of the vaccine there has been much discussion about whether the royals would be given it in order to further protect them. On 8 December, foreign secretary Dominic Raab told Today that he believed the Queen and Prince Philip would have the vaccine. 

“I’m not sure they’ll do it on camera, but I’m sure arrangements will be made according to the phased approach that I set out...like any family they will have all felt the pressures and all the worries that surround this pandemic,” he said.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, the medicines regulator, told the Andrew Marr Show that the vaccine would be available to the Queen and her family: “We’re a public health organisation, we work as full partners, if I can say, in the public health family, and our goal is totally to protect every member of the population, Her Majesty of course, as well.”

Numerous reports had already suggested that the Queen and Prince Philip would be among the first to have the vaccine but that it was a personal medical decision.

A source at Buckingham Palace told The Independent that it remains a “private medical matter” to be decided by Her Majesty.  

What would it mean if the Queen did get the vaccine?

The public backing of the vaccine by the royal family would be seen as a powerful counter weight to the anti-vaccination movement and fear of the vaccine that experts are concerned might reduce uptake across the country.

George Eustice, environment secretary, suggested to Times Radio that this was the thinking behind closed doors: "This would be a personal decision for the Queen, as it is for everyone, but it's very important that we try to make sure people are reassured about this vaccine." 

The Queen does already have some form in this type of public health messaging. In 1957 the Queen broke with royal protocol and let it be known that her children, Charles and Anne, had had the polio vaccination, among widespread public anxiety about it.

The inoculation of her children, then aged eight and six, by Dr Wilfrid Percy Henry Sheldon on Harley Street, reportedly went on to ease public concern and saw over 200,000 mothers get their children vaccinated.

According to The Guardian, ministers have drawn up a list of high profile ‘sensible’ celebrities they hope will have the vaccine. The list allegedly includes the royal family and Marcus Rashford, the footballer and campaigner on child food poverty who pressured the government to make U-turns on free school meals twice.

Will other royals get the vaccine?

All of the other royals are much younger than the Queen and the Duke so will not be included in the automatic first wave of vaccinations.

Prince Charles, 72, has already had coronavirus so most likely has antibodies, but this does not mean he won’t have the vaccination, especially if the rest of the family does.

His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, 73, who did not test positive at the same time, will be included in the over 70 category, expected to be the fourth band. 

Prince William has previously voiced his support for the Oxford University vaccine, appearing on a video call to congratulate the research team on their achievement.

However he and wife Kate Middleton, both aged 38, would not be vaccinated until 2021 at the earliest as they fall into the lower age priority bands.

For the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, currently living in Santa Barbara, USA, the wait might be a little longer as the FDA has not yet approved a vaccination for use.