I’M THRILLED HE’S HOME
Prince Charles’s joy as father Philip, 99, leaves hospital and returns to Windsor praising medical staff
PRINCE Charles said yesterday that he was ‘thrilled’ his father had finally come out of hospital after a month.
Speaking on an official visit to a Covid vaccination centre at a mosque in north London just hours after the Duke of Edinburgh was released, the prince was asked by a reporter about the ‘wonderful’ news.
Beaming from ear to ear he could not hide his delight, saying: ‘I am thrilled about it.’
Asked whether he had been given the chance to speak to his father yet, he said: ‘Oh yes, I have spoken to him several times. I will make sure he knows you are very pleased as well.’
Prince Philip, 99, was initially admitted to the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on February 16 as a ‘precautionary’ measure after feeling unwell.
He was finally driven away yesterday morning to be reunited with the Queen, his wife of 73 years, at Windsor Castle after his longest hospital stay ever.
Taken to his chauffeured car in a wheelchair, staff shielded him from onlookers with screens.
Inside his vehicle he looked frail but typically smart in a yellow jumper and shirt as he sat upright in the passenger seat and was said by royal sources to be in ‘good spirits’.
Philip was initially taken to King Edward VII’s Hospital by car a month ago after feeling unwell at Windsor – without any further details of his condition given out.
It was later confirmed, however, that he was being treated for an ‘infection’.
But after two weeks, he was moved to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London by ambulance where he had a successful procedure on a preexisting heart condition on March 3 – just three months before his 100th birthday.
A few days later, he was transferred back to King Edward’s to recuperate and to continue his treatment.
Throughout his time in hospital, the Royal Family continued with their official duties.
Philip was visited just once on February 20 by his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, who made a 200-mile round trip from his Gloucestershire home and stayed for around 30 minutes. But the Earl of Wessex revealed he had been speaking to his father by phone and when the duke was into his second week of treatment, Edward said Philip was ‘looking forward to getting out’ and the family were keeping their ‘fingers crossed’.
Concern had been heightened for the duke amid troubled times for the royals and because of his advanced age.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh has today been discharged from King Edward VII’s Hospital and has returned to Windsor Castle following treatment for an infection and a successful procedure for a preexisting condition.
‘His Royal Highness wishes to thank all the medical staff who looked after him at both King
‘He’s in good spirits’
‘Wonderful news’
Edward VII’s Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and everyone who has sent their good wishes.’
Philip has been treated for heart problems in the past and in 2011 was rushed to hospital by helicopter from Sandringham, their country estate, after suffering chest pains as the family prepared for Christmas.
In the serious health scare, he was treated for a blocked coronary artery at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire and underwent a minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting.
He has spent most of lockdown at Windsor with the Queen for their safety – alongside a reduced household of staff dubbed HMS Bubble.