A smiling Prince Philip, the 92-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, left hospital this morning after undergoing an exploratory operation on his abdomen.

Looking sprightly, the prince walked unaided out of the London Clinic after 11 days of treatment and got into his car, waving to onlookers.

Philip, the 87-year-old British monarch's husband of more than 65 years, was taken to hospital on June 6 for the planned operation, the fourth time he had needed hospital treatment since Christmas 2011.

Buckingham Palace has said Philip will take "a period of convalescence of approximately two months." He is expected to resume engagements in the autumn.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.