Prince Joachim of Belgium has tested positive for Coronavirus after attending a party with his girlfriend and 25 others in Spain.
The 28-year-old royal tested positive after attending the party in the southern city of Cordoba on May 26, a spokesperson for the Belgian Royal Palace said on Saturday.
Prince Joachim, the nephew of King Philippe of Belgium and ninth in line to the throne, attended the party on Tuesday in a private house in the city of Cordoba, which breached social distancing rules as the maximum number of people permitted to meet is currently 15 in the Andalusian city.
He was to have arrived in Madrid two days earlier for a business trip but then took a high-speed train to Cordoba, where his long-term girlfriend Victoria Ortiz grew up.
The 27 people who attended the party are in quarantine and the police are investigating the event with a view to levying a fine of between €600 and €10,000.
Prince Laurent of Belgium, another of Joachim’s uncles, confirmed the virus has been contracted by at least one member of his family.
He said: ‘We do not know how, but the coronavirus has entered our household.’ ‘For weeks now, we have hardly gone out – only to shop and for sports.’
Speaking about the party, Rafaela Valenzuela, the Spanish government’s sub-delegate in Cordoba, said: ‘I feel surprised and indignant, given that at a moment of national mourning for so many dead, an incident of this type stands out.
‘It’s completely irresponsible, because that number of people multiplied could cause an outbreak, and that would mean that Córdoba, after passing to Phase 2, would have to take a step back.
‘That is unforgivable. The police are investigating not just the observance of confinement measures, but also the breaking of other rules, given that we are still under a state of alarm. The virus is still out there.’