Prince Charles visits father in hospital
THE Prince of Wales made a 200-mile round trip to visit the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital yesterday and spent half an hour at his bedside.
The Prince arrived at King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone, central London, yesterday afternoon having made the two-hour journey from Highgrove, Gloucestershire, and left shortly before 4pm. Observers described him as looking sombre as he climbed into his car to be driven to Clarence House.
Royal sources stressed that the Duke, who has been in hospital since Tuesday, remained in “good spirits”.
The Prince’s decision to travel from his Highgrove Estate to London had raised concerns about his 99-year-old father’s condition, as it appeared to contravene the hospital’s strict pandemic visiting rules.
The rules stipulate that visits will be allowed only if patients have extra care needs, or if they are receiving end-oflife care. But they also state that visits from one person will be considered “in exceptional circumstances”. A source close to the Prince said: “The Duke has been in hospital a few days longer than expected and the Prince simply wanted to go and see him.”
A Buckingham Palace source insisted the Duke’s condition had not changed, and that the doctors were simply acting with “an abundance of caution” by keeping him in. The Duke, who turns 100 in June, was first admitted to hospital after a “short period” of feeling unwell, and walked in unaided.
He had been expected to be discharged after a few days, but that period was extended on advice of his medical team and it was made known on Friday that he was expected to remain in hospital for “observation and rest” throughout the weekend and into next week. The palace confirmed that his illness is not Covid-related and his hospital stay is “purely precautionary”.
In the meantime, the Queen has continued with her official duties, and sources close to other senior members of the family have suggested there is no cause for alarm.
The private hospital follows national guidelines and has tight restrictions on visitors, with strict social distancing protocols in place. Both the Prince and his father have received Covid vaccinations and will have had some protection when seeing each other.
The Prince’s visit comes amid severe rules on visitation for members of the general public, who are mostly barred from seeing relatives receiving hospital treatment during the pandemic.
It was also pointed out that the Prince’s visit may have been the only opportunity to visit his father, who had been isolating with the Queen in “HMS Bubble” at Windsor for several months.
‘The Duke has been in hospital longer than expected. The Prince simply wanted to go and see him’