Prince Philip update Why Prince Charles is the only royal to visit Duke of Edinburgh in hospital
Prince Philip is heading for his seventh night in a London hospital, but so far only one member of the Royal Family has visited him – his eldest son, Prince Charles.
The 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh was taken to London’s King Edward VII Hospital last Tuesday local time after he began to feel unwell.
An emotional-looking Prince Charles was photographed leaving the hospital on Saturday, prompting concerns about the gravity of his father’s illness.
The nature of Prince Philip’s illness has not been disclosed, but it is unrelated to coronavirus.
So why hasn’t his wife, Queen Elizabeth, or any other family members, visited him in the hospital?
There are a number of reasons, including the hospital’s own policy of severely restricting visitors due to the ongoing pandemic.
Coronavirus is still rife across the UK.
The Queen, 94, has been isolating at Windsor Castle amid the pandemic after she and her husband received the first dose of the COVID vaccine in January.
Veteran royal photographer Arthur Edwards said Prince Philip simply did not want too many people visiting him and said he believed the Duke would be out of the hospital in a few days.
“A lot of people made a lot about the prince going to see his father, but every time (Prince Philip) goes into that hospital – and he is a regular guest there, I can tell you – the family turn up to see him,” Edwards said.
“The reason only the Prince has gone this time is that the Duke doesn’t want anybody (else) there.
“And when people tell me how serious he is, I said, ‘When the Queen turns up then you start to worry’.
Buckingham Palace has not released a statement indicating if or when the Queen would visit her husband.
On a visit to a vaccination centre in eastern England, Prince William said his grandfather was doing “ok.”
Prince Harry, now living with his wife Meghan in the US, has reportedly called Queen Elizabeth asking to be “regularly informed” about Prince Philip’s condition.
A royal source said doctors had been acting out of an abundance of caution and that Philip was in good spirits, although there has been no official update on his condition since last week.
Prince Philip will turn 100 on June 10.
