Sir David Suchet will miss his investiture at Windsor Castle on Wednesday after receiving a positive coronavirus test result.
The 75-year-old actor, best known for playing Hercule Poirot in the long-running Agatha Christie detective series, was due to be knighted for services to drama and charity.
He said he had tested positive after taking a lateral flow test on Tuesday evening and planned to get a PCR test in the morning to confirm the result.
I have sad news. I have tested positive for Covid via a lateral flow test this evening. So no investiture for me at Windsor Castle tomorrow 🥲 I am getting a PCR test in the morning.
— David_Suchet (@David_Suchet) December 14, 2021
“I have sad news,” he wrote on Twitter before adding a crying face emoji.
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth sent his sympathies to the actor, writing: “Oh no! But there will be another day…”
Earlier in the day, Sir David had expressed his excitement after collecting a suit for the event.
He wrote: “Well! I have just picked up my morning suit for my Knighthood investiture at Windsor Castle tomorrow!!! I still think I am dreaming!!”
Sir David’s knighthood was announced in October 2020 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, and came after a career spanning 50 years.
Born in London in 1946, he joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of 16 and later trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda).
He portrayed Sigmund Freud in the BBC mini-series Freud in 1984 before he first appeared as moustachioed detective Poirot in Agatha Christie’s Poirot on ITV in 1989 and received international acclaim, reprising the role more than 70 episodes until 2013.
His interpretation of the Belgian super-sleuth is considered by many to be the definitive one and in his book, Poirot And Me, he mentions that Sir Peter Ustinov (who also famously played Poirot) once told him that he would be good at taking on the role.
He was made a CBE in 2011 for services to drama.