Queen Elizabeth Holds Zoom Meeting With Governor Of South Australia As Husband Prince Philip Remains In The Hospital
Keeping busy! Queen Elizabeth II had a Zoom meeting with the Governor of South Australia, His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le, and the Hon. Steven Marshall MP, Premier of South Australia, on Wednesday, February 24, to talk about COVID-19 and other topics as her husband, Prince Philip, remains in the hospital.
"We are so honoured to be receiving this call from you," Governor Van Le told the 94-year-old.
During their chat, sculptor Robert Hannaford showed a new statue of the Queen, which was recently installed outside of the Government House in Adelaide.
"I would think possibly it might be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window — gracious, has she arrived unexpectedly?" she joked.
Hannaford also presented Queen Elizabeth with a scale model of the statue, a.k.a. a “maquette.”
"I'm glad it's not quite as big as the original statue!" she told the sculptor.
The Queen’s latest video call was released on Monday, March 1 — the same day Philip, 99, was transferred to a different hospital in London.
Queen Elizabeth II has cracked jokes and chuckled through a video call with Premier of South Australia @marshall_steven and Governor Hieu Van Le.
— 10 News First Adelaide (@10NewsFirstAdl) March 1, 2021
Speaking from Windsor Castle last week, the monarch joined the pair in remotely unveiling a new statue of herself at Government House. pic.twitter.com/GfSmsNMJ50
"The Duke of Edinburgh was today transferred from King Edward VII's Hospital to St Bartholomew's Hospital where doctors will continue to treat him for an infection, as well as undertake testing and observation for a pre-existing heart condition,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
"The Duke remains comfortable and is responding to treatment but is expected to remain in hospital until at least the end of the week,” they added.
However, Prince Edward revealed that when he visited his father, he seemed to be on the mend.
"As far as I'm aware, well I did speak to him the other day, so he's a lot better thank you very much indeed, and he's looking forward to getting out, which is the most positive thing,” he said. "So we keep our fingers crossed."
Prince William also gave an update last week, saying that his grandfather was doing "OK" and the hospital was "keeping an eye on him."