The Queen was admitted to hospital today as she struggles to recover from a debilitating bout of gastroenteritis. The 86-year-old monarch has been taken to the King Edward VII Hospital for immediate medical treatment this afternoon the first time she has been hospitalised for ten years and has cancelled all her engagements for the week to come. Sources insist that she is ‘in good health and good spirits’ and even had an audience with a member of staff to award them a long service medal in her private apartments before she left.
She did not require an ambulance and was driven from Berkshire to central London by private car.
However the fact that the monarch, who will celebrate her 87th birthday next month, even agreed to be taken to hospital indicates that the stomach bug which hit her on Friday has taken its toll on her health.
"Very much like her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, she is proud of her robust health and does not give in to these things lightly," said a source.
Medical experts suggested that while ideally such conditions are treated at home initially, not least because they are so contagious, it may be in view of her age they wish to monitor her in hospital or even give her fluids intravenously to prevent her from becoming dehydrated. Senior royal sources have told Mail Online that she is likely to be kept in for around two days as doctors stabilise her condition.
The last time that the Queen was hospitalised was in 2003, when she underwent surgery on her knees.
Since then she has cancelled barely a handful of the 350 plus engagements she still undertakes each year, largely due to unusually heavy colds or back pain.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Queen is being assessed at the King Edward VII Hospital, London, after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis.
"As a precaution, all official engagements for this week will regrettably be either postponed or cancelled."
Sources say it is unlikely any members of the royal family will visit her unless her condition takes a turn for the worse as she will only be in hospital for a short amount of time and – more importantly – hates to make a fuss.
