Over60
Body

No joking matter: Prince William's coronavirus quip on Ireland trip

Prince William has joked about spreading coronavirus with his wife Kate as they make their way through Ireland.

As he met emergency workers at a reception hosted by Britain’s Ambassador to Ireland Robin Barnett, he joked about the panic surrounding the disease.

I bet everyone’s like ‘I’ve got coronavirus, I’m dying’, and you’re like ‘No, you’ve just got a cough’, he joked to Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service.

“Does it seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?”

As the two continued talking, the Duke of Cambridge later grimaced with mock horror and explained his part in spreading the disease.

“By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus, sorry.

“We’re keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop.”

A royal insider told The Sun that the couple are following guidelines from Public Health England and the Department of Health, which means “business as usual” for now.

“This is a discussion we have been having and everything we are doing should continue as usual,” said the insider.

During the event, Prince William also joked that he never thought he’d see his grandmother the Queen in a pub.

"We are retracing the footsteps of my grandmother, who was shown how to pour the perfect pint here in 2011,” he told the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen let me tell you it is not often that I find myself following the Queen to a pub!”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on their first official visit to Ireland, nine years after the Queen became the first British monarch to visit the country since its independence.

Tags:
prince william, duchess kate, coronavirus, issues, sickness