The Queen has sent a message to Boris Johnson’s family and his pregnant partner Carrie Symonds, saying they were in her thoughts and that she wished the Prime Minister a full and speedy recovery from coronavirus, Buckingham Palace said.
The news comes after Downing Street said that Boris Johnson is “stable” and "in good spirits" after spending the night in intensive care following a worsening of his coronavirus symptoms.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said he had been given "standard oxygen treatment", but no other breathing assistance was needed.
Meanwhile Prince William said in a tweeted message: "Our thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family, who like so many in the UK and around the world are affected by coronavirus.
"We wish him a speedy recovery at this difficult time."
A Clarence House spokesperson said the Prince of Wales had also sent a message from himself and the Duchess of Cornwall to Mr Johnson this morning wishing him a “speedy recovery”.
Mr Johnson originally went into St Thomas' hospital in central London on Sunday for tests, he said in a tweet. He was transferred to the intensive care unit of the hospital on Monday evening after his condition deteriorated.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will stand in for Mr Johnson “whenever necessary”, including leading the daily meetings of the core coronavirus strategy team, according to the Prime Minister's spokesperson.
Senior cabinet minister Michael Gove said that the response to the virus would carry on as normal in the Prime Minister’s absence.
He told BBC Breakfast: “We’re all working together to implement the plan the Prime Minister set out in order to try to ensure that we can marshal all the resources of government, indeed all the resources of our country, in the fight against this invisible enemy.”
“We have a superb civil service and they have ensured that the machinery is there for decisions to be made by ministers, by medical and scientific experts, and for those decisions to be followed through in a way which enables us to help those at the front line.”
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Meanwhile the New Labour leader Keir Starmer said he had spoken to Mr Raab, offering to work “constructively” with ministers to respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant with their first child, has also been bed-ridden with coronavirus symptoms. Ms Symonds has been unable to visit Mr Johnson in hospital.
