Queen reportedly ‘distraught’ over husband Prince Philip’s ‘health setback’

Prince Philip is getting a lot better, his youngest son says after Buckingham Palace announced the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth will remain in hospital for several more days to receive treatment for an infection.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, walked into London’s private King Edward VII Hospital last Tuesday evening after he was advised by his doctor to be admitted after he felt unwell and has spent seven nights there. “He is comfortable and responding to treatment but is not expected to leave hospital for several days,” Buckingham Palace said, adding he was receiving medical attention for an unspecified infection. Both Philip and the 94-year-old Queen, who has stayed at Windsor Castle, her home to the west of London, have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and the Duke’s illness is not related to COVID-19.

“As far as I’m aware, he’s a lot better… so he’s looking forward to getting out which is the most positive thing,” Edward, the youngest of his four children, told Sky News. Philip has required hospital treatment a number of times in the last decade for a recurrence of a bladder infection and he had an operation to clear a blocked artery in his heart after suffering chest pains.