Prince Philip leaves hospital to spend Christmas with the Queen - The Age

The 98-year-old was treated for what Buckingham Palace called a “pre-existing condition.”Credit:AP

In a statement, the Palace said the prince left hospital after being discharged by his doctor and "is now back at Sandringham", where he will spend Christmas with the 93-year-old Queen.

It is not known if Philip will be strong enough to attend a Christmas morning church service traditionally attended by the Queen and other senior royals.

Philip did not respond to photographers as he was driven away from the private hospital.

Multiple police stood guard around the hospital as well as royal protection officers.

Asked by reporters about his father as he visited flood-hit parts of northern England, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles said: "He's all right - once you get to that age, things don't work as well. He's being looked after very well in hospital."

Philip, who has been at his wife's side throughout her record-breaking 67 years on the throne, retired from public life in August 2017 although he has occasionally appeared at official engagements since.

A former naval officer and keen polo player, Philip enjoyed robust health well into old age but has had a number of health issues in recent years.

In 2011, he was rushed to a hospital by helicopter from Sandringham after suffering chest pains and was treated for a blocked coronary artery.

Last year, he had hip-replacement surgery which required a 10-day hospital stay.

Philip was forced to give up driving earlier this year, at the age of 97, after smashing into a car while driving a Land Rover near Sandringham in January. Philip needed help to get out of the vehicle but wasn't injured. One woman in the car suffered a broken wrist.

He still drives a horse and carriage on private land from time to time.

Philip's latest hospital stay comes at the end of what the Queen described as 'quite a bumpy year' in her Christmas message to the nation.

In the address filmed in Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room, the Queen invoked June's 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings as a broader observation on the need to heal the United Kingdom following years of debate about its impending departure from the European Union.

The royal family endured a torrid year dominated by the fallout from Prince Andrew's long association with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Princes William and Harry have also been at odds, with the latter spending this Christmas with wife Meghan Markle in Canada instead of England.

PA with Reuters, Bevan Shields, AP