I barely see any people wearing masks anymore in Virginia. I’m still doing socially-distant things, but that’s just my general lifestyle. I have to admit, I don’t wear a mask at the gym these days and I’ve been going into a few stores maskless too. It feels okay-ish because I do live in a state where the majority of adults are fully or halfway vaccinated. It definitely feels like we might be going back to mask-wearing full-time in the coming months though, especially with the variants coming through and infecting vaccinated people.
Throughout the entire pandemic, the British royal family has refused to role model good mask-wearing behavior. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent months breathing on people, hosting super-spreader events and pretending like “being outside” means that no one will get infected with the virus. The Queen was seen wearing a mask I think two times during the entire g–damn pandemic. And now Prince Charles is letting people know that he’s abandoning the mask-wearing entirely too:
Prince Charles will wear a mask only when Government advice dictates that he should do so, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. In a boost to the Government’s Freedom Day, the Prince is not expected to cover his face when he visits Exeter Cathedral. Charles is patron of a fundraising appeal at the cathedral and, for the first time in months, his trip has been made public in advance. During the pandemic, visits have been kept secret to prevent crowds congregating.
A Palace source said: ‘This will be the first time in 18 months that we are seeing a return to normality. We’ll be looking forwards, not backwards. This is the first time the Prince has been to a location inside and won’t be wearing a mask because it’s a large area where people will be social distancing and it will be the first day of the new rules. When the rules state that a mask should be worn, then the Prince will wear one but not otherwise.’
The Duchess of Cornwall – who yesterday celebrated her 74th birthday – is known to dislike wearing a mask. During a visit to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff earlier this month, she told a student: ‘I can’t wait to get rid of this!’
Coronavirus cases have jumped by more than two thirds in a week, official data revealed as experts warned infections will stay high for months and a new lockdown will be needed by September.
Yes, there is a big spike in new coronavirus cases in the UK, especially since people were congregating, partying and screaming on and around each other at football matches and tennis matches for the past month. The delta variant seems to be raging in the UK as well. Ideally, everyone would get f–king serious about getting fully vaccinated AND wear masks whenever they’re around other people. The vaccines don’t stop Covid in its tracks, they just make Covid less severe of an illness if you are exposed. I guess my point is that Charles probably should role model good mask-wearing behavior as a public figure, but I understand why a fully-vaccinated adult is dropping mask-wearing unless government-mandated.
These are all photos of Prince Charles going maskless in and around Exeter Cathedral today.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
I was amazed at how much he resembles his mother – facial feature wise. I won’t go down the rabbit hole of the pettiness.
I’m starting to wear my mask more these days because the delta variant scares me. We have a large percentage of people vaccinated in my state, so I was going maskless for a while, but now with the variant I’m wearing it more. My boys also always wear a mask indoors.
All that to say – maybe Charles should just keep his mask on for a little while longer.
VA resident here too Kaiser and I don’t see a lot of people in stores wearing masks. Still wearing mine because a. Germaphobe, b. keeps people away, and c. hides RBF.
And because I’m a petty bish, can we just agree that Charles would look a hell of a lot better if he ALWAYS wore a mask? The whole lot of them with the exception of the expats (H&M). Think of how much money the taxpayers would save on botox & fillers for the keenest of them all.
I dunno – I only wear a mask where it’s required (anything inside – work, shopping, restaurants until you’re seated at your table, etc.) If I go for a walk outside, I don’t wear my mask, but I have one in my pocket in case I come across a group of people I can’t avoid. In fairness, I don’t do large group gatherings à la prince Charles, but otherwise I also just follow gov’t guidelines?
“Freedom Day” in the middle of soaring covid numbers is truly the dumbest sh*t I can imagine and I’m incredibly thankful to live in Scotland and not England right now.
I find this whole Freedom Day language asinine. Freedom from what? COVID isn’t gone, and people are still dying from it. I guess it’s the freedom not to be vaccinated and drink to oblivion in the pubs. I am sure FDR would have included that as his fifth and six freedoms.
Yes, thank you. It’s wishful thinking over any kind of sensible decisions from government.
Let’s just see how well the ‘you’re on your own’ approach to pandemic management plays out.
Don’t they mean ‘in a boost to Covid…’
I mean it’s not like our fully vaccinated health secretary has covid and as a result both the prime minister and chancellor are currently isolating or anything. We’ve also got business reducing hours and having to close temporarily due to staffing shortages because SO MANY people are being exposed to positive cases.
So sure, why bother with ANY sensible precautions. Bring on the variants that may not be treatable or preventable with our current vaccines (or maybe even any vaccine). IDIOTS.
I know both heirs survived covid last year, but at this point could you imagine the absolute horror if both Queen and PoW went together and Will got to be King now?!
Do everyone a favour Charles and mask up now!
The only times I take my mask off is 1) When I’m alone 2) Visiting my parents who are also vaccinated 3) The dentist
I have a contractor in my house right now and even though I’m upstairs and he’s downstairs, I’m wearing my mask and am making him wear his.
They just had the British Grand Prix at Silverstone at full capacity as another test event smdh.
God this country is so asinine with its Freedom Day nonsense.
Yeah, pretty done with masks here. I have no problem wearing one if it’s required (planes, certain businesses, etc) but I’ll take my (low) chances.
Okay, fine with government guidelines but what about the guidelines of the places you are visiting? This is from the Exeter Cathedral website: “You’ll need to wear a face-covering at all times (unless you are exempt).” If visitors are expected to mask up somewhere, exemptions shouldn’t be made for “special blood”.
Massachusetts has almost 74% of adults vaccinated and over 63% of its entire population and we’re still a bit squeamish. I still see people wearing masks.
Here’s what bother me about Charles’s declaration. Most of the people they come into contact with will have been vetted. So I’m sure they’ve been vaccinated and tested before the engagement. So he is at less general risk than most people. Also, whatever social distancing rules that are in place will be strictly enforced on a royal visit. I think they made this into a big story to distract from the fact that the new health secretary tested positive. The UK government from the beginning of the pandemic has taken the approach of minimizing until their forced not to. It’s disturbing.
I was in Miami and Orlando around the first two weeks of June and no one wore masks. I was usually the only one masking both indoors and outdoors except when having dinner outdoors.
I don’t know how people can trust only vaccinated people will not wear masks when we’ve seen how problematic some people can be. Sure, the virus might not kill those of us fully vaccinated but we can still spread around. I just don’t understand why people continue not wearing a damn mask.
So much for leadership.
It is so unwise to drop precautions right when the Delta variant is spiking! If Charles fell ill, he would have the best of treatment, but why take these chances? Do people think they’re immortal?
Almost my entire family is anti-vaccine. (One brother has had it.) I’m declining family get-togethers and I’m just in shock they literally won’t accept science.
Well I’m sure Will is thrilled with Chuck’s choice to unmask.
With Chuck’s age and potential underlying health issues if he gets delta, delta plus or lambda Will might get to be king pretty soon.
Here in California, were back to everyone having to mask inside. Both vaccinated and un vaccinated.
And good, because our numbers and hospital admittance is rising again