Duchess Camilla jokes about 'self-isolation' on visit to Transport Museum with Prince Charles

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has become the second senior royal to crack a pun about coronavirus that is rapidly making its way throughout the UK.

After Prince William joked about him and wife Kate Middleton spreading the coronavirus during their trip to Ireland, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall quipped about going into self-isolation, in an apparent reference to the deadly virus that has already seen 51 cases in the UK, reports Mail Online.

The duchess who was visiting the London Transport Museum on Wednesday, along with husband Prince Charles, quipped while stepping into an old air-raid shelter: "I'm self-isolating." People who are suffering from or are showing the symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, have been advised to self-isolate to prevent the spread of the virus.

Charles and Camilla were visiting the museum to celebrate 20 years of Transport for London (TfL). They completed the journey from Clarence House to the museum in a double-decker electric bus, for which they were joined by schoolchildren. During the engagement, the couple shook hands with some of those they met, but the duchess was seen wearing gloves throughout the visit.

On the same day, Prince William and Kate Middleton attended a reception hosted by Britain's Ambassador to Ireland, Robin Barnett, in the Gravity Bar at Dublin's Guinness Storehouse. While interacting with emergency workers at the reception, the Duke of Cambridge ended up making an awkward joke about the virus, which made him the target of critics on social media.

Talking to an advance paramedic employed with the National Ambulance Service, the British prince joked: "I bet everyone's like 'I've got coronavirus, I'm dying', and you're like 'no, you've just got a cough."

As if the joke wasn't awkward enough, William further quipped: "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."

The jokes come at a time when members of the royal family are speculated to be taking advice on how to deal with the virus outbreak, which started in China. On the day when Camilla and William made the puns, Queen Elizabeth II was seen wearing white gloves while presenting honours during an investiture ceremony at the Buckingham Palace.

The British monarch's eldest granddaughter Zara Tindall, and her husband Mike Tindall, were also recently advised to self-isolate following a trip to coronavirus-affected Italy, which they refused because they were not showing any symptoms. Meanwhile, Thomas's Battersea school where Kate and William's children- Prince George and Princess Charlotte are enrolled, sent four pupils in quarantine after two of them developed flu-like symptoms on return from a school trip to Italy.