Britain's Prince Charles arrives at the King Edward VII's hospital in London, Saturday Feb. 20, 2021, to visit his father Prince Philip. Buckingham Palace said the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, 99-year-old Prince Philip was admitted to the private King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday evening after feeling unwell. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)
Prince Charles arrives at King Edward VII Hospital in London to visit his father Prince Philip. AP

Prince Charles visits father Philip in hospital

Neil Murphy

Prince Charles on Saturday visited the hospital where his father Prince Philip is being kept as a precaution after feeling ill.

Charles arrived at the back of the London hospital where Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has spent four nights.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was admitted on Tuesday as a precautionary measure after feeling ill with an ailment that is not related to Covid-19.

Britain's Prince Charles arrives at King Edward VII's Hospital, where Britain's Prince Philip was admitted, in London, Britain, February 20, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Prince Charles arrives at the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Reuters

He is expected to remain in hospital until next week, a royal source said on Friday.

Doctors were acting out of an abundance of caution and the duke remains in good spirits, the source said.

Both Philip and the 94-year-old queen received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in January.

He spent four nights at the same hospital at the end of 2019 while being treated for an underlying health condition.

Philip is rarely seen in public. He stepped down from official engagements in August 2017 after completing more than 22,000 solo events and thousands more alongside the queen.

A former naval officer renowned for his sometimes brusque manner and humour, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became queen. He is now by far the longest-serving consort of any British monarch.