Prince Philip's painful pull out

28 January 2009

0Comments | Comment on this Article

Britain's Prince Philip had to pull out of his first royal engagement of 2009 because of a back problem.

Queen Elizabeth's husband, 87, was due to accompany the monarch on a visit to a primary school near their Sandringham residence in Norfolk, east England.

However, a painful back injury prevented The Duke of Edinburgh from attending.

The duke has pulled a muscle in his back and would have been uncomfortable standing for an hour and walking around at the school

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The duke has pulled a muscle in his back and would have been uncomfortable standing for an hour and walking around at the school. He should be attending a lunch later and hasn't had any other engagements cancelled."

The queen kept her appointment with Flitcham Primary School. She stayed at the school for an hour, opening the school's new Information Technology classroom and observing children using the new machines.

Pupil Chloe Mayes , 10, said: "We were really excited and she looked really nice. She did not speak to everyone but she didn't have that much time. She was really quiet and she was not as big as we thought."

0Comments | Be the first to comment!