Prince Charles' personal experience with the coronavirus is impacting his work to combat the illness that has become a pandemic. The 71-year-old British royal contracted the disease in late March, but only experienced "mild symptoms."
Speaking with Sky News, Charles agreed with the interviewer that having had COVID-19 has inspired him to be an outspoken advocate of ways to help make sure the world doesn't experience another pandemic.
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"Yes, it makes me even more determined to push and shove and shout and prod, if you see what what I mean. Whatever I can do behind the scenes sometimes," he said before adding of his own experience with coronavirus, "But yes, but I suppose it did, partly, and I was lucky in my case. I got away with it quite lightly."
Charles noted that having had COVID-19 himself, which caused him to be quarantined from his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, for two weeks, has helped him to better relate to others who contracted it.
"I can so understand what other people are going through. I feel particularly for those who have lost their loved ones but were unable to be with them at the time. That's, to me, the most ghastly thing," he expressed.
Charles, a noted conservationist, also touched on his desire to help prevent future pandemics, which can be brought on by deforestation.
"It's one of the reasons I've been trying to get the point across that we should have been treating the planet as if it was a patient long ago," he continued. "No self-respecting doctor would have ever let the situation, if the planet is a patient, reach this stage before making an intervention."
The Prince of Wales has given an exclusive interview to Sky's royal correspondent @SkyRhiannon about the challenges and opportunities we all face #AfterThePandemic
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 4, 2020
The full interview will be shown tonight at 8pm.
Watch a preview here 👇 pic.twitter.com/GTuWLvxKBm
Though Charles has made a full recovery from the coronavirus, his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, found his condition to be a reason for them to get back in touch after months of tension.
“There have been clearly some quite major rifts in that relationship, but things have got better and I know that William and Harry are in touch on the phone,” royal expert Katie Nicholl previously told ET. “They have done video calls together, they have done a lot of family birthdays and I think with Prince Charles not being well, that really forced the brothers to pick up the phone and get back in touch.”
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