The royal expert has claimed that Prince William reportedly kept his coronavirus diagnosis a secret for a reason.
According to Fox News, the UK-based outlet reported the 38-year-old royal "struggled to breathe" while he battled the novel virus back in April during the early days of the global pandemic. It further added that the Duke of Cambridge did not speak out about the illness to avoid alarming the public.
"Here in Britain, there is controversy over the fact that we now discovered that he had COVID-19 back at the beginning of the first spike and he concealed it," royal author Robert Lacey told Fox News. "At the time, the prime minister had coronavirus, his father had coronavirus."
Lacey, who serves as a historical consultant to the hit Netflix series 'The Crown,' recently released a new book titled 'Battle of Brothers: William and Harry - The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult,' which examines the relationship and alleged feud between Princess Diana's two sons.
Lacey, who has been writing about the British royal family for 40 years and previously worked at the royal archives, spoke to numerous palace insiders for his latest release.
"[William] decided the world did not need him to be the third high-profiled coronavirus victim," Lacey explained. "He followed all the rules. He did the quarantine, the self-isolating. He did Zoom, even while he was ill, and then got back to work."
William reportedly tested positive only days after his father, Prince Charles, diagnosed with COVID-19 in late March.
A source told Fox News that the Duke of Cambridge, who is second in line to the throne, "was hit pretty hard by the virus."
"At one stage he was struggling to breathe, so obviously everyone around him was pretty pcked," they added. "After seeing medics and testing positive -- which was obviously quite a shock given how fit and healthy he is -- William was determined it should be business as usual though."
After April 9, the royal took a week-long break from phone calls and engagements before virtually opening the Nightingale Hospital Birmingham on April 16.
"People have said this is not right for an heir to the throne to keep this sort of thing a secret," said Lacey.
( With inputs from ANI )
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