The duke of edinburgh has returned to sandringham in time for christmas after spending four nights in hospital. Prince philip walked out of the king edward vii hospital in Central London, and got into a car before being driven away. He travelled to the hospital on friday as a precautionary measure. Buckingham palace say his four night stay was for observation and treatment. A statement from Buckingham Palace said the duke of edinburgh has today left hospital after being discharged by his doctor and is now back at sandringham. It went on to say his Royal Highness would like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes. In a moment we will be speaking to our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, who is at sandringham. But first, lets go tojohn mcmanus who is in Central London, outside the hospital where Prince Philip was receiving treatment. We still dont know why he was in hospital but people will be relieved to see him walking out himself. Unsurprisingly, the king edward vii hospital behind me state very quiet about the reason for his visit. They say they do not comment on any patient. The palace will also not diebold is what brought Prince Philip to this hospital. He lives on friday and left this morning. He was able to walk out and get into the range rover, say goodbye to staff and thank them and then went on his way to sandringham tojoin and thank them and then went on his way to sandringham to join the rest of the royalfamily. We do know way to sandringham to join the rest of the royal family. We do know that at the age of 98 he has suffered some Health Difficulties over the last four years. If years ago he had a hip replacement operation. At one point he had a bladder infection, he also had a stent for a coronary problem if you use it all. At that age its probably not surprising that Prince Charles gave some well wishes yesterday when he was asked. When asked about his father, he said that things at his age didnt work when they should do. The duke now left hospital and on his way to spend christmas with his family. Let us spend christmas with his family. Let us go to charlotte who is at sandringham. We did was phone in . Yes, the helicopter came in recently and we believe that Prince Philip was inside after being flown back from Central London where he was being treated. Huge relief from the royal family. Also from the staff that worked on the estate. One person said that they often see Prince PhilipWalking Around and he feels like part of their family as well, so they were worried about him as well. The queen is here. She arrived on friday and the rest of the royal family were expecting them to arise throughout the day. They arrived in order of seniority so the junior members tend to arrive earlier in the day. The more senior members like Prince Charles and Prince William will arrive later. One ecstasy them tomorrow on Christmas Morning as the always attend a Church Service on the sandringham estate. We do not know if Prince Philip will be there because he has just been discharged and he was knocked there last year. He retired from duty in 2017. We are expecting Prince George and Princess Charlotte to attend the service for the first time with their parents, Prince William and. Many people will be very excited to see them here. They are expecting 6000 well wishers to come down tomorrow morning and meet the royalfamily. Despite a difficult and bumpy year, as said by the queen, there is still so as said by the queen, there is still so much interest in the royalfamily here in britain. They will be queueing up from early errors in the morning at sandringham in order to see the royals go to church. The queen will use her Christmas Day message to say that 2019 has been quite bumpy. It comes after a year of intense political debate over brexit, as well as a number of personal events affecting the royal family. Her majesty said, the path of course is not always smooth and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference. Joining me now is royal correspondent and historian. The people are going to see the duke of edinburgh packed with the queen for christmas. Yes, absolutely. Certainly a decision was going to be made today and he would not have travelled back tomorrow. For the royalfamily, travelled back tomorrow. For the royal family, Christmas Eve travelled back tomorrow. For the royalfamily, Christmas Eve is a bigger event than Christmas Day. They tend to gather together around tea time. The exchange presents, which are laid out, and then we have a black tie dinner. Before church at 11 oclock tomorrow morning. There will be great relief among the family that Prince Philip will be joining them. It is of course if pretty full fa m ily joining them. It is of course if pretty full family gathering, notable exceptions being the duke and duchess of sussex with their baby archie who are in the united states. All of the queen and prince phillips children, including Prince Andrew, and amidst all the spectators looking for a glimpse of Prince George and Princess Charlotte tomorrow, there will also be comment at interest in Prince Andrew, how you might travel to church, whether he will accompany the queen directly if she is driven there, and indeed whether he does it walkabout. I suspect he will not but to nosthat are stopping to watch tomorrow too. Presumably the powers no how prince and you will appear, if he does, will he be supported by his family ata time will he be supported by his family at a time of serious questions . Absolutely, it will be thinking about how this should be managed, whom he should be accompanied by or be accompanied with. Clearly it will be accompanied with. Clearly it will bea be accompanied with. Clearly it will be a presentation of a united front. The royal family will be firm, as the queen regards, will absolutely stick together. I am sure over dinner this evening, and into tomorrow, there will be some rather tense conversations exchanged and it will be interesting. Well never know quite how Prince Andrew will explain himself to his brothers and sister and, of course, to his pa rents. Sister and, of course, to his parents. The question about harry and meghan. We have seen a photograph of the queen, but there are no pictures of harry and meghan on her desk this time. No, exactly. You can read into that that simply she is focused on herfather and then the direct heirs to the throne. Certainly, yes, people will read into that something. The queen holds prince harry in great affection. She is an adoring grandmother and he is very close to her but there is no doubt that the duke and duchess have attempted to forge their own path this year. The high point is the birth of archie but thereafter, by distancing themselves from the duke and duchess of cambridge, but also the royal family as a home, and duchess of cambridge, but also the royalfamily as a home, managing their own media relationships and note making the decision to spend christmas with meghans mother in the states. There is a christmas ca rd the states. There is a Christmas Card they have released with their young son today. People will also perhaps wonder if this should be at home as they have ageing and unwell grandparents . It is a shame not to see them altogether. But clearly we wa nted see them altogether. But clearly we wanted some time out and will step away from public life altogether . We have to remember, of course, that the duke and duchess of cambridge have spent christmases with the Middleton Family over time. Prince harry and meghan were at sandringham last year. Meghan will also have her first christmas with archie and we wa nt first christmas with archie and we want that to be with her mother. On that basis, many can empathise with the pressures of work to spend family christmas. In that sense, the duke and duchess are the same as the rest of us. Despite what the queen is acknowledging as a bumpy year, whether it is in due to the nation with brexit or personal matters for the royalfamily, how much support is there for the royal family in this country . Yes, i think it is a lwa ys this country . Yes, i think it is always important to distinguish between the queen, the monarchy and the royal family. I between the queen, the monarchy and the royalfamily. I think the queen remains in high affection and a sense of Great Respect for her, even among those people who would perhaps prefer the end of the monarchy and the republic. I think, prefer the end of the monarchy and the republic. Ithink, really, only time will tell and it wont be until the queen is no longer with us as we really get an idea of what the place of the monarchy is and how people regard it. For many others, we have known no other moloch than the queen. The queen and the monarchy is absolutely synonymous. Whether the affection for the monarchy will remain after her passing remains to be seen. The indications are is that when Prince Charles becomes king it will be a very much slimmed down poor working group of royals, basically himself and camilla and Prince William and prince harry and their respective waves. The wider family will not be as prominent as they have been. In that sense, it will try and keep the potential negative influences, perhaps like Prince Andrew, they will try to protect and insulate the monarchy from that. Thank you very much. Borisjohnson and Jeremy Corbyn have thanked nhs staff and other Public Servants who work through the holidays in their christmas messages. The Prime Minister also said the uk stood in solidarity with christians around the world who faced persecution for their beliefs. Mr corbyn said it had been a difficult year for many but christmas was a chance to reflect on hopes for a better world. This around 2000 volunteer firefighters will spend their Christmas Day tackling australias bushfires as the crisis continues. The countrys Prime Minister has pledged more support amid criticism from some unpaid workers. Nine people have died after more than 84 fires devastated homes and businesses. One of the unpaid workers from from the New South WalesRural Fire Service who will spend Christmas Day on the front line is angela burford, who spoke to the us earlier. I will bejoining around 2000 other volu nteers i will bejoining around 2000 other volu nteers across i will bejoining around 2000 other volunteers across New South Wales fighting the fires. We have about 80 bushfires burning across the state so it has been a long summerfor hours so far and we are only about half way through. A number of others have put up a hand to work on Christmas Day because for us it is just another day working on these fires. It is what we do and we love what we do and we do it for the community. It is a difficultjob and we are lucky to have 70,000 volu nteers across we are lucky to have 70,000 volunteers across New South Wales. It isa volunteers across New South Wales. It is a very important bit of work to be done, particularly this week as we have a low in the weather. We have got cooler temperatures and the winds have died down a bit. We have a chance to go in and do some very important containment work before things start to heat up again. Some of these very large fires are going to be potentially posing a risk to communities next week. We give our time wherever we can. We have all got thejobs time wherever we can. We have all got the jobs and we are volunteer at our local fire station and luckily enough, where i volunteer we do not have any large fires threatening towns near us. So our truck will be travelling to and a half hours far down just west of sydney to help out on the files there. We give up our time to train, we train throughout the year and we go to incident calls 365 days a year, whether that be pa rt 365 days a year, whether that be part fires are bushfires. We give up part fires are bushfires. We give up ourfree time to do part fires are bushfires. We give up our free time to do that but we are very grateful when our employers give us time off work. Obviously, it has a huge flow on effect throughout the state and certainly for businesses as well when they lose their staff. We are lucky in that a lot of employers are supportive of us lot of employers are supportive of us and they know how important the work we are doing is and often you will see throughout summer and particularly to christmas we are being released from work and, of course, ourfamilies being released from work and, of course, our families see that we can go out and fight these fires. The headlines on bbc news. The duke of edinburgh has left hospital in time to spend christmas with the queen at sandringham. The queen will use her Christmas Day message to say the past year has been quite bumpy , adding that small steps can heal divisions. Thousands of volunteer Fire Fighters will spend Christmas Day battling wildfires that are still ravaging australia. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. The chelsea manager Frank Lampard says its disappoining the spurs boss Jose Mourinho questioned antonio rudigers integrity after he suffered alleged racist abuse during their match at the weekend. Mourinho was referring to rudigers reaction to being kicked by son hueng min. Hung min, who was then was sent off for violent conduct. I think with tony in this incident, when he is having to post after the ghost game about something which isa ghost game about something which is a huge deal, to question his integrity in that time is disappointing for sure. It is pretty universal that certainly what i heard in the commentary and all the post match reflection is that the incident was a red card. I said after the game it was a brutal red card, but it was an instinctive one that was a red card. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain has sustained ankle ligament damage and will miss liverpools games against leicester and wolves 00v the england midfielder between christmas and new year. The england midfielder picked up the injury in qatar during the second half of his sides 1 0 win over flamengo in the Club World Cup final on saturday. Klopp says the club will make a further assessment before determining a return date. The former newcastle and Crystal Palace manager alan pardew has been appointed as the new head coach of dutch side den haag. Pardew has signed a deal until the end of the season and will have chris powell as his assistant. Den haag are currently second bottom in the dutch league. The newjob for powell will not effect his role as a coach with the fa. Ben stokes is a doubt for the first test against south africa on boxing day, his father ged has been taken seriously ill stokes missed training to be with him by his bedside. The ecb say that his father was taken to hospital in johannesburg yesterday where hes in a critical condition. Adam mountford is injohannesburg. Ben stokess father has been admitted to hospital injohannesburg after suffering what is described as after suffering what is described as a serious illness. He remains in a critical in a serious illness. He remains in a critical in condition. He is 64 and was a rugby league player. He was scheduled to play today, ben stokes, but he has gone to his fathers bedside. The solheim cup winner bronte law has welcomed the increase in prize money in the womens game next season. Players on the lpga tour will earn nearly 60 Million Pounds in total, law though says the players must also play their part in developing the sport. An increase in prize money is always good. It gets us that little bit closer to where the men are. good. It gets us that little bit closer to where the men are. I think we have two grow the game ourselves from our side. We cannot really focus too much of what we men are doing. It can encourage more participation on our side and more buzz around the game with more people watching ones golf and thats to go hand in hand. And finally diving in football has been an on going issue for some years now but for two teams in tanzania, they were left with no choice. Players were forced to drop to the ground when a swarm of bees invaded the pitch it led to the match being stopped briefly for a few moments, as players and fans tried to find cover. Play continued and it is a good thing they werent playing the hornets. Boom boom . Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Police in new zealand say they have called off the search for the bodies of two people still missing since the white island volcano eruption earlier this month. The bodies of Hayde