Prince Philip spent a third and "comfortable" night in hospital last night, according to reports in the BBC and elsewhere. The prince was rushed into hospital on December 23 for emergency heart surgery. Six of the prince's grandchildren -- Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice, and Zara and Peter Phillips -- were spotted heading out to hospital to visit the Duke of Edinburgh on Christmas Day, after their traditional 1 p.m. dinner and church service. The visit reportedly lasted around 45 minutes.
Today, Boxing Day, the Royals have been taking part in a shooting party which is usually hosted and headed by Prince Philip. According to our sources in the United Kingdom, the weather down in Sandringham was wet and miserable.
A palace spokeswoman has not indicated when Prince Philip is expected to leave Papworth Hospital but continued to say the prince was "in good spirits" and the Queen will continue to be briefed on her husband's condition. The spokeswoman would not comment on the shooting party because it was a “private event.”
Meanwhile, "The Telegraph" reported that yesterday's royal Christmas gathering was the largest ever, with 27 members and four generations of the Royal Family gathering together to eat. The unusually large crowd came both to see the Duchess of Cambridge and to offer good wishes to Prince Philip. The paper also said that the Duke of Edinburgh had been served Christmas dinner in hospital and was delighted with his grandchildren's visit.
Ironically, less than two weeks before Christmas, Prince Charles had held a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the Soil Association and its efforts to work with hospitals to improve hospital food.
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Sources: BBC News; Telegraph; Nursing Times; BBC Weather
Get British Royal Family news by subscribing to this column or using the RSS feed. Linda Gentile is the British Royal Family Examiner and you can also follow on Twitter and Facebook. And, for yet more British life and culture, check out Linda's British Life column.
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