24/12/2011 BBC Weekend News


24/12/2011

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Good afternoon. The Queen and Prince Charles have been visiting

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the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital. Buckingham Palace say he's had a

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good night and is under observation. The Queen en route this morning by

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helicopter, from Sandringham to Papworth Hospital in visit her

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husband. The fact she's done so promptly to her husband's bed side

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suggests this was a moment of real anxiety, albeit one that now

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appears to have passed. A short time after the Queen's visit, the

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Prince of Wales also arrived at the hospital. According to Buckingham

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Palace, the Duke who was 90 last June, spent a good night after

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surgeons performed the operation late last night to relieve a

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blocked artery in his heart. He had been taken to hospital after

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experiencing chest pains at Sandringham. After tests, doctors

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decided that what's described as a minimaly invasive procedure should

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be carried out under local anaesthetic. Other members of the

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family, including Prince William and The Duchess of Cambridge are

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due to arrive at Sandringham today. It's not known at this stage

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whether they or any other members of the family will also visit the

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Duke. Up to now, the Duke has been continuing with an active programme

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of engagements. Just two months, he was in Australia at the side of the

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Queen, doing what he's done for very nearly 60 years, supporting

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the monarch. He was guiding children through the crowds to meet

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her and notwithstanding his rather dominant personality content to

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take second place as he always has. Earlier this year, he did, at the

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time of his birthday, admit that it might be time to ease up a little.

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I reckon I've done my bit. I want to enjoy myself a bit now. With

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less responsibility, less frantic rushing about and less preparation,

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less trying to think of something to say. On top of that, my memory

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is going and I can't remember names and things. I'm just sort of

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winding down. The Duke will be hoping to accompany the Queen as

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fully as possible next year, as she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, but

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that must now depend on how well he recovers. Luisa Baldini is at

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Papworth Hospital for us. What is the latest? Well, we have just had

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a briefing by the Buckingham Palace press officer. She told us the

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Queen, who visited earlier this morning, was accompanied by other

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senior members of the family and they were met by the Chief

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Executive of the hospital, as well as the prove sore, who is the chief

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physician to the Queen. They departed and that's when Prince

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Charles and cam little la arrived. We were told that the Duke is in

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good spirits, but eager to leave. That looks unlikely. He may well

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have to stay in overnight, but he's in have good hands. P Papworth is

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the UK's largest specialised hospital for heart problems and

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they carry out the stent operations as a routine operation. They carry

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out around 2500 of them every year. It's routine. It's carried out

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under local anaesthetic and patients are able to be discharged

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the very next day. Given the age of the Duke, 90, he is being kept here

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under observation. Thank you. Nicholas Witchell is with me now.

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What do you make of the stream of visitors and the fact it's such

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senior Royals? This is a family, which generally takes its time

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about visiting each other in hospital. They don't like to make a

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fuss. They have done very, very quickly this morning. I think, as I

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said in the piece, they've had clearly a real scare on this

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occasion. As I understand it, the Queen was accompanied in the

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helicopter by the Princess Royal, by the Duke of York and theerly of

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Wessex and we have seen that the Prince of Wales has also been

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travelling by road from Highgrove with The Duchess of Cornwall, so in

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other words, all of the Queen's children have been to the Duke's

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bed side this morning. The good news is that, as we have been

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reporting, he is in good spirits, so we are told, and he has spent a

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good night. But this is clearly an upsetting event. Obviously, for the

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Queen, witnessing this last night and she has been there at her

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husband's bed side this morning. Thank you.

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Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for the founder of the

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French company, PIP, which manufactured potentially defective

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breast implants. The French authorities have recommended that

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30,000 women have the implants removed as a precaution. This is

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following the scare, but the British Government has ruled out

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routine removal, saying there is no evidence of a safety concern.

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Tens of thousands of people are protesting against alleged election

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fraud in Moscow. Demonstrators are demanding a re-run of the

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Parliamentary elections which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party won

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earlier this month. It's the latest in a series of protests across the

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country. The head of the army, General Sir Peter Wall, has been

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visiting British troops in Afghanistan. He spoke to service

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personnel at camp bestion, who will be spending Christmas -- Camp

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Bastion, who will be spending Christmas away from their families

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and thanked them. That's it for the moment. You can keep up-to-date,

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