During a video call earlier this week, the 94-year-old monarch spoke to health leaders who are delivering the COVID-19 jab. Her Majesty said those refusing the vaccine “ought to think about other people rather than themselves”.
Writing for the Daily Mirror, royal expert and editor Russell Myers explained that such “personal interventions” from the Queen are extremely rare.
He said: “Such personal interventions from the Queen are very rare, but when they arrive they pack an almighty punch.
“When choosing to deliver her verdict on the issue of the day, from children’s vaccine safety to the often vicious Brexit debate, the monarch’s mediation in such matters is carefully thought out and even more consciously executed.”
Mr Myers believes Her Majesty’s most personal intervention came in 1957 during the roll out of a vaccine against polio.
Polio is a disease which at its peak paralysed or killed over half a million people worldwide every year.
According to the World Health Organisation, the disease mainly affects children under the age of 5 and a polio vaccine can protect a child for life.
The vaccination programme helped cases of polio fall dramatically and since the 1980s, no cases of the disease have been registered in the UK.
In January 1957, the Queen allowed the public to know that her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne had received the polio vaccine in order to ward off public fear.
READ MORE: Queen pays tribute to Prince Philip as he spends 12th day in hospital
She added: “Once you’ve had the vaccine you have a feeling of, you know, you’re protected, which is I think very important.
“And I think the other thing is that it is obviously difficult for people if they’ve never had a vaccine… but they ought to think about other people rather than themselves.”
It comes as her husband Prince Philip, 99, is expected to spend his second weekend in hospital while recovering from an infection, royal sources told .
The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday evening last week as a “precautionary measure”.
Earlier this week, Buckingham Palace confirmed Prince Philip is “comfortable and responding to treatment” but is not expected to leave hospital for several days.
The Duke’s hospital admission is not related to coronavirus. He celebrates his 100th birthday in June.
Speaking to ITV’s This Morning, royal commentator Camilla Tominey said the Palace have tried to “dampen down any alarm”.
She added: “But obviously the Duke is 99 and so any hospital stay is going to be worrying.
“Equally I think it’s his longest stay in hospital outside of a scheduled operation.”
