Prince Philip to spend third night in Aberdeen hospital

Prince Philip is to spend a third night in hospital as he continues receiving treatment for a bladder infection.

He has had no visitors on Friday after doctors advised him to rest, but his family are said to have been in contact by phone.

The 91-year-old Duke of Edinburgh was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on Wednesday from Balmoral.

The Queen left Balmoral for a few hours on Friday, the first time she has been seen in public for a couple of days.

She drove herself out of the gates of the estate in a Range Rover, returning later in a convoy that included the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed an RAF helicopter was scrambled to take the duke to hospital on Wednesday, but its efforts to land near a road were thwarted by fog.

A spokesman said it was eventually decided it would be quicker to complete the 50-mile journey by road.

It is the duke's third hospital stay in nine months.

He spent four days in hospital over Christmas, following an operation to clear a blocked heart artery.

And after attending events to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June, Prince Philip was admitted to hospital for five nights, missing several days of festivities after sustaining the original bladder infection.