Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April

AFP

Britain’s Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April at a similar time to his father, the heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, a source close to his Kensington Palace office said.

William, 38, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, kept his diagnosis a secret because he did not want to alarm the country, said The Sun newspaper, which first reported the news.

“There were important things going on and I didn’t want to worry anyone,” William was quoted by the newspaper as having told an observer at an engagement.

He was treated by palace doctors and followed government guidelines by isolating at his family’s home Anmer Hall, in Norfolk in eastern England, the newspaper said, adding he had still carried out 14 telephone and video call engagements during April.

“William was hit pretty hard by the virus — it really knocked him for six. At one stage he was struggling to breathe, so obviously everyone around him was pretty panicked,” an unnamed source told The Sun.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on the news.