Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

LONDON — Prince Charles has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday.

The Prince of Wales, 71, who is the first in line to the British throne, is experiencing mild symptoms "but otherwise remains in good health," Clarence House said in a statement.

Charles is now self-isolating and working from home at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland. His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, tested negative for the virus, the statement said.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

The prince has carried out a high number of public engagements during the past few weeks and therefore it was not possible to know when or where exactly he had caught the virus, the statement said.

Charles is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, who is 93. The queen moved from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle a week earlier than planned for the Easter period.

"Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "The Queen last saw The Prince of Wales briefly on the morning of 12th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare."

"We are all being advised to change our normal routines and regular patterns of life for the greater good of the communities we live in and, in particular, to protect the most vulnerable within them," the queen said in a statement last week.

There have been 8,077 recorded coronavirus cases so far in the United Kingdom and 422 deaths.

Like in several other European countries, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed strict controls on daily life, shuttering many businesses and ordering people to stay indoors for all but essential trips.