The Queen may have canceled virtual engagements to avoid people speculating about her health, according to a crisis communications expert
The Queen canceling virtual engagements after testing positive for COVID-19 could be a way to limit speculation, PR expert Juda Engelmayer says.
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- The Queen likely canceled virtual engagements to avoid speculation about her health, an expert says.
- Juda Engelmayer is the president of a public relations firm and a crisis communications expert.
- Engelmayer told Insider that neither the Queen nor her staff "want to lie or be caught in a lie. "
The Queen canceled her virtual engagements on Tuesday due to cold-like symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, with a Buckingham Palace statement noting that the monarch would "continue with light duties."
The language Buckingham Palace used was similar to that in its previous statement shared with Insider on Sunday, which confirmed that the Queen had contracted COVID-19 and was recovering from mild symptoms at Windsor Castle.
According to Juda Engelmayer, president of the public relations firm Herald PR and a crisis communications expert, the palace's language suggests a cautious strategy and the 95-year-old British monarch's cancelation of virtual engagements could be a tactic to avoid public scrutiny about her current condition.
Withholding information about the Queen's health may be a way to limit public alarm, Juda Engelmayer says
Engelmayer told Insider that the Queen, "as noble and prominent as she may be, is also a human being of significant years," therefore people may believe she's experiencing harsher COVID-19 symptoms no matter how healthy she is. He said that the palace statements are "playing coy with their words and for good reason."
He added that if the Queen's symptoms are preventing her from tending to her usual routine, the vague wording around her continued "light duties" will avoid mass concern and speculation.
The monarch is believed to have had three doses of COVID-19 vaccinations, according to reports from the BBC and ITV. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson pointed Insider to these reports, indicating that they may be accurate, but the only confirmed dose the Queen received was her first vaccination in January 2021 — news that she shared during a video call with UK health officials that was posted to the royal family's Twitter account on February 25 last year.
A graph issued by the UK Office for National Statistics to illustrate the risk different age groups with COVID-19 faced in England in the second half of 2021, indicates that over-90s are most at risk, but vaccines make a huge difference, Insider's Marianne Guenot previously reported.
Three doses, which the Queen is believed to have, reduce the risk for over-90s by about 93%, making their risk lower than that of an unvaccinated person in their 60s.
"Knowing she is loved, and knowing that a lot is going on in the world right now, the palace is likely trying to not alarm England and the Queen's admirers," Engelmayer said of the palace's statement.
The language suggests a cautious palace strategy, according to Engelmayer
In Engelmayer's professional estimation, the palace's communications account for all eventualities, without giving too much away.
"If there are no symptoms, we just say that there is nothing going on," Engelmayer said. "When spokespeople talk around an issue and use more words than needed, it may be not quite as they suggest."
He said that neither "the Queen nor her representatives want to lie or be caught in a lie" and that by using careful wording or explaining around the issue, there's a possibility that they're finding a way to avoid sharing the whole truth without being deceitful.
Engelmayer said that this uncertainty aside, he hopes the Queen "recovers fast and gets back to her duties and life."
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.