There was an extremely morbid “Death Watch” on Twitter over the weekend. Last week, Prince Philip checked into the hospital – reportedly he walked in unaided – because he was feeling poorly, and they wanted to keep this 99-old-man there for tests and observation. I didn’t feel like it was something to be super-worried about. But then some ghoulish folks on Twitter decided to make it into a thing, and there were rumors swirling all over the place that Philip was near death. Prince Charles took the somewhat extraordinary step of visiting his father in the hospital too:
After visiting his father for 30 minutes this afternoon, Prince Charles has now returned from central London to Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
Still no explanation from the Palace for the visit.
Prince Charles was photographed in the car as he left hospital. pic.twitter.com/EFt4Rd37fy— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) February 20, 2021
People believed they saw Charles looking emotional and perhaps distraught behind his mask, like someone who just said goodbye to his father. I do think it’s notable that Charles traveled to London just to visit his dad, and I don’t think that Charles would have done that if Philip was completely fine and there were no significant issues. Still, the Queen did NOT visit her husband and neither did the rest of the family, so…?
The whole story took on a life of its own. Today, Prince William gave an update on his grandfather too:
Prince William has publicly addressed the health of his grandfather Prince Philip. William, 38, exchanged a few words on Monday with longstanding royals photographer Arthur Edwards, who asked him how Philip, 99, was doing.
“He’s okay,” said William. “They’re keeping an eye on him.”
Philip was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London on February 16 after “feeling unwell,” the palace said. William spoke with Edwards at a vaccine center in Norfolk, not far from his country home, Anmer Hall, where he and wife Kate Middleton and their children have been living during the latest U.K. lockdown.
Philip had been expected to remain in the hospital for a few days but on Friday, a royal source told PEOPLE that he would stay there into this week.
“Following consultation with his doctor, the Duke of Edinburgh is likely to remain in hospital for observation and rest over the weekend and into next week,” the source said. “The doctor is acting with an abundance of caution. The Duke remains in good spirits.”
So… is the old guy okay or not? I feel like all of the indications – minus Charles’ visit – are that Philip is okay, maybe a little bit under the weather, maybe he has a cold or a stomach flu or something and they’re just worried it could turn into something bigger. I guess the press wants to keep everybody guessing so they can continue to write about how Harry and Meghan are “rude” and “awful” for responding to the Queen while Philip is being hospitalized. Meanwhile, notice that no one is ever like “wow, I can’t believe the press is being so f–king cruel to a pregnant woman who had a miscarriage last year.”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Think anytime a 99 year old is in the hospital, it’s serious. At that age, any illness, no matter how minor, is a life or death event. It is definitely somewhat ghoulish to speculate, particularly publicly, but it’s far from unfounded. A hospital admission at 90+ is never, ever not a big deal.
I honestly hope he hangs on for another year or two be are there is way too much drama right now and things need to calm down.
When Charles came to visit, I honestly thought Philip was about to die. But then logic kicked in. Why just Charles? Where was his wife? Where was Anne, his favorite child? Where was William?
I’m inclined to think, he’s just old as hell and gets monitored like crazy at any blip in his health. I’m not saying he’s perfectly fine, but I don’t think death is imminent and he will probably reach his 100th birthday.
I assumed Charles was the designated visitor because he already had covid.
Allegedly William had COVID too.
Not allegedly, he did and hid it – which is probably why the palace doesn’t want to mention it again!
I wouldn’t be surprised if they made Charles visit just to have the media spiral into death watch and blame Harry and Meghan doing an interview with Oprah.
When Anne didn’t visit, that’s when I thought it wasn’t that serious. Or at least nothing behind the concern for when someone is 99.
That’s what I thought: Keep an eye on Anne. She’s really the only one (including, to some degree, his wife) that he actually likes. If she shows up, then it’s serious.
Well, Philip’s super old, so his condition is unlikely to be stable, in the traditional sense. Every conversation one has with him at this point could very well be the last. I hope Charles got something good from it.
He is very old and at that age, any kind of hospital stay is pretty serious. My grandmother went to the hospital this summer for observation as well, they kept her for 6 weeks, and she died less than a week after she came home, never having been given a diagnosis or anything, so we don’t know what she died of.
When Charles went to visit I thought it was the end. Now 6 days later and it’s oh, he’s fine? That family is something else and I don’t trust them.
Here’s The Guardian’s report of this interchange about Prince Philip: “William replied: “Yes, he’s OK. They’re keeping an eye on him,” and he gave a wink.”
A wink? WHY? A wink as in “this is theater to make H&M look bad?” A wink to indicate “you know what we’re doing here?’ And why was the wink not included in the version of the People article edited by a Brit. Sorry, isn’t it disrespectful to wink when you’re Grandpa’s hospitalized?
This is the same person who joked about COVID while Europe was in a panic as cases rose, the same person who then contracted the virus and did not tell anyone. So yeah, I’m 100% the asshole thought it would look cute if he winked.
What, you mean you *wouldn’t* wink when asked about your potentially dying grandfather? It’s almost as if they’re using Philip’s hospital stay to distract and attack. As for People…it might as well be a British tabloid at this point.
My conspiracy theory is that while P is in the hospital (because he’s 99), the plan is to use it if needed. If the interview is a bombshell, then we’ll see reports that he’s near death. If not, oh well, he’s 99.
Him being in the hospital is probably not planned because I think they would have waited closer to the interview date. So I think P needed help but they plan to use him if needed. Idk.
Why is William talking to a former photographer? Isn’t he supposed to be in Norfolk? Arthur Edwards is London based so does he just call up William for info?
I thought they were at an event or something? Maybe not?
As for the wink……I cant even.
Charles was in on the ruse hatched by BP to make Harry and Meghan look bad for confirming that they won’t return as working royals while Philip was in the hospital. I think it’s interesting that they got William to answer a question about Phillip which was posed by the Sun photographer. I guess good work by KP to have William being the one to announce that Phillip is fine.
The same Sun photographer Charles is buddy-buddy with and who got to lay a wreath at Remembrance last year.
Yep.
Love to see Arthur crying about Harry not coming back, you would think it’s his grandchild, not someone he spies on to make a living.
I sincerely hope he makes it another year or 2
Little known fact: Prince Philip is actually 1000 years old. Every few years he visits hospital and is injected with the souls of peasants to extend his lifespan.
@JO73C, your comment made me lol!
This may not be a very nice thing to say, but OMG Phillip looks scarier and scarier with every passing year. It’s all the more sad considering what a massive dish he was a young man. Age is a bitch.
Prince C showed his age a bit too walking into the hospital. Nothing I’m judging – seems normal for his age, it’s just creaky-ness in general of the RF.
I don’t think it’s abnormal to keep the Queen out of the hospital until absolutely necessary. She’s pushing 100 herself. Hospitals are breeding grounds for germs and things like MRSA. I also think they will move Phillip to Sandringham if he’s on his last leg and that’s where he will receive visitors for last conversations.
Plus royals visiting mean you’ve got to deal with their security staff, which can be a lot if it’s the security staff to the monarch. And it’s a lot to deal with during normal times so imagine social distancing times.
Charles may have wanted to see his father and decided to come down because it’s probably the first time since lockdown he’s actually been in the same room as Philip.
I really think if Philip was truly at death’s door, they would send him home. I imagine he prefers dying at Windsor or Sandringham rather than a hospital.
The entire U.K. is meant to be on COVID lockdown. No one should be visiting Philip in hospital – it’s not a necessary journey and thousands of families across the country aren’t getting to visit sick relatives because the hospitals have banned visitors.
Extended stay possibly due to having continuous cardiac monitoring to see if dizzy spells, falls etc due to heart rhythm problem requiring med change perhaps. My mother wore a monitor for quite a while at home for this reason. Not being royalty, Medicare does not pay for a long inpatient stay.