Prince Philip, the 98-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, has left a London hospital where he had been receiving treatment since Friday, and was expected to join other members of the Royal Family for their Christmas celebrations.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, walked out of the King Edward VII Hospital and shook hands with a nurse before getting in the front passenger seat of a Range Rover car and being driven away.

He was expected to join other senior members of the Royal Family gathering at the Sandringham estate in eastern England.

Philip had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure for treatment for a pre-existing condition, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

Prince Charles said on Monday that his father was "all right," raising expectations Philip would be discharged from hospital in time for Christmas.