Prince Albert II of Monaco denies infecting Prince Charles

Prince Albert II of Monaco, who tested positive for novel coronavirus just days before Prince Charles got diagnosed with the disease, has addressed the speculations that one of the royals may have affected the other.

Prince Charles tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, just two weeks after he met Prince Albert II of Monaco at a Water Aid event in London on Tuesday, March 10. The Monegasque royal, who was diagnosed with the disease a week earlier than Charles, spoke to RTL radio about the speculations that he may have infected the British royal at the meeting, reports Hello.

"I was at a roundtable for his foundation, but we never shook hands. I was at the other end of the table, way far away," the 62-year-old told the radio show on Thursday.

Denying the speculations of infecting the British prince, Prince Albert said: "We nodded hello to one another, so I don't think I can really be accused of contaminating him."

Noting that Charles "had a number of other opportunities to catch it," the father-of-four said: "There were a lot of other people around at the congress centre and I know he continued his schedule afterwards for a number of days."

In a statement on Wednesday announcing that the 71-year-old British royal has been affected by the pandemic, Clarence House officials had said: "It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks."

Charles who is first in line of succession to the British throne is currently self-isolating at his Scottish home Birkhall in Balmoral, Scotland. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall who is 72-years-old, has tested negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, Prince Albert opened up about his diagnosis in an interview with People, and said: "My symptoms are flu-like, but it feels like a pretty mild case. I've a slight fever, not really that bad. A little bit of a cough. I'd a runny nose the first few days that was the first sign. I've felt a little stuffed up but that's it."

The reigning monarch, who shares five-year-old twins with wife Princess Charlene, added that he has to be extra careful because of his recent medical history fighting off pneumonia a couple of years ago.