Smiling Duke of Edinburgh leaves hospital after treatment for bladder infection

 
1/3
Ross Lydall @RossLydall20 August 2012

Prince Philip showed he was battling back to full health as he left hospital today - joking with medical staff as he thanked them for his treatment.

The 91-year-old Duke of Edinburgh looked sprightly as he left and told staff to “behave themselves” before adding: “I am going back to enjoy the rest of my holiday.”

The duke’s departure despite five days in hospital raises hopes that he will be well enough to accompany the Queen to the opening ceremony for the Paralympics on August 29 after spending the coming week recuperating at Balmoral.

Today Philip, a Second World War veteran and the longest serving royal consort in British history, looked in good form as he had doctors laughing at his trademark dry wit.

He walked a “guard of honour” of about a dozen doctors and nurses as he left Aberdeen Royal Infirmary at 10.45am after spending five nights undergoing treatment for a bladder infection.

He walked to a Range Rover car and put himself in the front passenger seat, waving to hospital staff and a small crowd of wellwishers.

Senior staff nurse Denise Webster told Sky News: “The duke was a very good patient”

He had been admitted last Wednesday as a precaution after the recurrence of the condition, which first caused him to be hospitalise for five days in London in June after flaring up during the wet and cold diamond jubilee pageant on the Thames.

Tory MP Mark Spencer tweeted: “Wishing the Duke of Edinburgh a speedy recovery: 91 and still absolutely committed to public life, admirable doesn’t come close.”

The no-nonsense duke did not receive any royal visitors during his hospital stay in Aberdeen but was in touch with his family by phone. Insiders said it was never considered a life or death illness.

The Queen is on her summer vacation at Balmoral while Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are at Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate.

Yesterday prayers were said at Crathie Kirk for the duke in a service attended by the Queen and Earl and Countess of Wessex. The Queen, 86, was also spotted driving herself around the estate, an indication that his condition was not causing her undue concern.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in