The Queen (opens in new tab) and her husband Prince Philip (opens in new tab) have been officially vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, the Palace has confirmed.

Daily Mail royal correspondent and all-around royal expert Rebecca English (opens in new tab) shared the news on Twitter today, writing (opens in new tab): according to an announcement by Buckingham Palace, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh today received #COVD vaccinations at Windsor Castle. Sources say these were inoculated by a house hold doctor, and HMQ decided to confirm this news to prevent "inaccuracies and speculation."

In a follow-up tweet, English elaborated on the Queen's decision (open in new tab) to change policy on the matter, as the Palace had previously claimed that it would not confirm when or even if the monarch had been vaccinated.

"As of Thursday, Buckingham Palace had clearly said that it had no plans to confirm whether HMQ had been vaccinated or not because it was a 'private medical matter,'" English wrote. "But speculation, of course, continued. It was the Queen's personal decision to make this news public."

In the United Kingdom, the first doses of the COIVD-19 vaccine are being given to front-line health care workers, nursing home staff, and the elderly over the age of 80 (opens in new tab). The Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip (opens in new tab), aged 94 and 99 respectively, were eligible and were not given special treatment or access to the vaccine because of their royal status.