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Prince Charles misses hugging his family amid virus lockdown

Last Updated Jun 4, 2020 at 11:30 am MDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince Charles greets members of the public as he leaves the RSC or Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, during his tour of Warwickshire and the West Midlands. Prince Charles in a interview with Sky News on Thursday June 4, 2020, said he missed giving his family members a hug during the long weeks of lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and also acknowledged that he had not seen his father, Prince Philip, for many weeks. (Jacob King/Pool Photo via AP, File)

LONDON — Prince Charles says he has missed giving his family members a hug during the long weeks of lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Prince of Wales also acknowledged in a interview with Sky News on Thursday that he had not seen his father, the Duke of Edinburgh for many weeks. Prince Philip, who is shielding at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, is set to celebrate his 99th birthday next week.

Speaking virtually from his Scottish home of Birkhall, Charles — the heir to the throne — was asked about being apart from his family.

“Well, it’s terribly sad, let alone one’s friends,” he said. “But fortunately, at least you can speak to them on telephones and occasionally do this sort of thing.

“But it isn’t the same is it? You really want to give people a hug,” he said.

Charles, who himself suffered from COVID-19, said contracting coronavirus made him more determined to “push and shout and prod” for a more green approach and to have nature return to the “centre of everything we do.”

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

The Associated Press