Prince Philip will remain in the hospital for the foreseeable future, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Tuesday, February 23.
“The Duke of Edinburgh remains at King Edward VII’s Hospital where he is receiving medical attention for an infection,” a palace spokesperson said in a statement to Us Weekly. “He is comfortable and responding to treatment but is not expected to leave the hospital for several days.”
It’s been one week since the 99-year-old prince was hospitalized in London as a “precautionary measure.”
The palace first confirmed that Philip was being treated on Wednesday, February 17, telling Us in a statement: “The Duke of Edinburgh will remain in the hospital, on a doctor’s recommendation, for a few days.”
Several days later, Prince William gave an update on his grandfather during an engagement at a coronavirus vaccination center in Norfolk, England.
“Yes, he’s OK,” William, 38, said on Monday, February 22. “They’re keeping an eye on him.”
Philip was previously treated at King Edward VII Hospital in December 2019. After checking in several days before Christmas to undergo “observation and treatment in relation to a preexisting condition,” he was released four days later on Christmas Eve.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been married to Queen Elizabeth II since 1947. While his illness is not related to the coronavirus pandemic, both Philip and the 94-year-old queen made headlines last month when they received the first dose of the vaccine.
Before Philip was admitted to the hospital, the palace released a statement on behalf of him, the queen and several other members of the royal family regarding Meghan Markle’s pregnancy news. The Suits alum, 39, and Prince Harry announced that on February 14 that they are expecting baby No. 2.
“Her Majesty, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and entire family are ‘delighted’ and wish them well,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
Several days later, news broke that Harry and Meghan, who already share 21-month-old son Archie, had informed the queen that their decision to stop working for the royal family was permanent. Ingrid Seward, author of Prince Philip Revealed: A Man of His Century, meanwhile, previously spoke to Us about how Philip feels about the situation.
“He can’t understand what was so awful about being a member of the royal family,” Seward told Us in October 2020. “They had a beautiful house. They had a huge influence, and Harry was really enjoying helping the military. And Meghan had got the beginnings of a place for herself in the Commonwealth and then they had a beautiful child [Archie]. So, beautiful house, beautiful child, looked after — what was so awful about that?”
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