Prince Philip hospitalized with infection, Buckingham Palace says
Prince Philip is being treated for an infection and is not expected to be released from the hospital for several days, Buckingham Palace said Tuesday.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, was admitted to London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital last Tuesday as a precautionary measure when he felt unwell.
The palace finally issued a brief statement Tuesday explaining the reason for his hospitalization and noted he is “comfortable and responding to treatment,” the BBC reports.
The queen, 94, and the duke already received their COVID-19 vaccines last month and the prince’s stay isn’t related to the coronavirus.
The aging royal couple have been locked up at Windsor Castle with a small household staff throughout most of the pandemic.
The duke, who’s a few months shy of his hundredth birthday and celebrated his 73rd anniversary with the queen last November, reportedly walked into the hospital unaided, a palace source previously told the BBC.
Prince Edward told Sky News his father is doing “a lot better” and the family has received “brilliant and lovely messages” since he was hospitalized, adding they really “appreciate” the missives and “so does he.”
“He’s looking forward to getting out, which is the most positive thing, so we keep our fingers crossed,” the Earl of Wessex told the outlet.
Heir to the throne Prince Charles, 72, briefly visited his father on Saturday afternoon for about 30 minutes before returning to his Highgrove residence, a Clarence House spokesman told the outlet.
The nonagenarian has had a few bouts of bad health over the last decade. In 2011, he was treated for a blocked coronary artery, a year later he was hospitalized for a bladder infection, and in 2013, he underwent surgery on his abdomen.
Over the last four years, he was hospitalized two more times, once in 2017 for an infection and another time in 2019 for what the palace called a “pre-existing condition.”