Prince Philip Misses Shooting Party

9 months ago 17th Feb 14:00

Britain's Prince Philip has missed his third shooting party in recent weeks.

The 27-year-old royal was hosting a weekend party at Queen Elizabeth's Norfolk estate Sandringham, but failed to join his friends and estate workers on the planned hare shoot.

The prince has missed a string of official engagements since the injury - said to be a pulled back muscle - and recently prompted further fears for his health when he was seen driving with two black eyes

Philip has reportedly been ordered to "take in easy" after sustaining a back injury while carriage racing at Sandringham in January.

The prince has missed a string of official engagements since the injury - said to be a pulled back muscle - and recently prompted further fears for his health when he was seen driving with two black eyes.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman has said: "A lot of engagements involve standing for quite a long time and they can often last anything up to an hour.

"He's making a decision on a day-to-day basis about whether he's going to attend engagements. His advice has been to rest his back for a period of time and he's doing that each day. He's been advised to rest as long as possible and avoid standing for too long."

Philip has so far missed the opening of a Norfolk health centre, an engagement at a school in the same county, a charity function at Sandringham Visitors Centre and several shooting sessions at the country estate.