Prince William will "step into a statesman role" as he leads the Royal Family's response to the escalating coronavirus pandemic, according to an expert.
The Duke of Cambridge was the first royal to address the nation about the Covid-19 outbreak in a sombre video last week before joining Kate to meet staff at an NHS 111 centre.
Expert Katie Nicholl said the couple were "best placed" in The Firm to lead the line as the virus death toll continues to rise leaving the country in an unprecedented lockdown.
"We're seeing William step up in that statesman role," she told Australian website 9Honey.
It strikes me as interesting that the first member of the royal family to address the nation has been William."
The Queen - who at 93 is well into the most vulnerable category if she were to catch the disease - is essentially in quarantine in Windsor until the virus is under control.
And it's a similar story with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who, at 71 and 69, respectively, are also in the higher risk age group.
While William, 37, and Kate, 38, are well below the vulnerable sector meaning the Cambridges are "among the best placed" to carry on their work as best they can.
The expert said despite a 'business as usual' attitude at Buckingham Palace, it would be far too risky for all the royals to carry on as they usually would, despite the Queen's best efforts earlier on.
Ms Nicoll went on to say William and Kate are having to put much of their other work on hold but wanted to support the crisis effort "as long and as safely" as they can.
She added other senior royals would also be sending out messages of support in an effort to "connect" with the British public during the crisis.
On Friday, William and Kate met coronavirus frontline workers at a London NHS 111 call centre - the first royals to do so.
Days before, the Kensington Royal Twitter account posted a video of the Duke in which he described how the community support for the affected demonstrates the "best of our values and human nature".
