Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was set to miss the royals’ traditional Christmas pheasant shoot on Monday after a third night in hospital following heart surgery. Philip, 90, was rushed to hospital on Friday complaining of chest pains and required an emergency procedure to unblock a coronary artery. The prince, known as the Duke of Edinburgh, spent another “good night” in hospital, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said on Monday. He was given a festive boost on Sunday with a Christmas Day visit from grandsons Prince William and Harry and four other of his eight grandchildren. Philip, who has a famously brusque manner, is said by aides to be eager to leave the Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire, eastern England, but no date for his release has been given.
He usually leads the royal family’s shoot at their Sandringham country estate, held on December 26, or Boxing Day as it is known in Britain. The shoot was expected to go ahead as planned. In a statement on Sunday, the Palace said he was “in good spirits and will remain in hospital under observation for a short period. “The Queen will continue to be briefed on his condition. We do not have details of a release date at this stage.” The queen visited her husband of 64 years at the hospital on Sunday after the royal family’s Christmas church service.
