Healthy and happy Queen leaves hospital smiling after being treated for nasty stomach bug

The Queen taken to King Edward VII Hospital with suspected gastroenteritis

It is the 86-year-old monarchs first hospital visit in ten years



All official royal engagements this week cancelled or postponed

Likely to be caused by winter vomiting bug norovirus, medical experts say

After a visit from her personal physician she left at 2.45pm yesterday



Palace says despite being allowed home, her diary remains suspended



Getting better: The Queen walked unaided out of the Marylebone hospital this afternoon after being taken there for treatment last night

Only a day after being admitted to hospital for the first time in a decade, the Queen was yesterday well enough to go home.

And far from spending the next week recuperating, as doctors have suggested, the Mail has learnt that she returned to work straight away.

Instead of heading back to Windsor Castle last night, the monarch, who turns 87 next month, insisted on returning to Buckingham Palace to be briefed by her private office staff.

She was joined by the 91-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, who had a public engagement at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge last night.

And even though she is expected to return to Windsor Castle at some point this week, she will continue to receive the ‘red boxes’ of official paperwork that follow her wherever she goes.

The monarch, who will celebrate the 60th anniversary of her coronation in June, went down with a debilitating case of gastoenteritis on Friday and was advised to rest at Windsor Castle for the weekend.

The Queen much prefers the relative informal nature of Windsor to Buckingham Palace and considers it to be her true ‘home’.

But on Sunday afternoon, concerned doctors decided she should be taken to King Edward VII hospital for monitoring.

And although Buckingham Palace said she would be kept in for two days, her racing green Bentley accompanied by four police outriders unexpectedly arrived outside the central London hospital yesterday lunchtime.

The Queen, who had earlier in the day been visited and given the all-clear by her personal physician, Professor John Cunningham, stepped briskly through the front door.



Wearing a pillar-box red coat with Queen Victoria’s diamond bow brooch pinned to her left shoulder and her beloved pearls around her neck, the Queen had a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step.

The only possible sign of her treatment was a black glove on her left hand, which might have been to cover the tell-tale signs of an intravenous drip.



SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

With a handbag over one arm, and clutching a neck scarf and one glove as she prepared to shake the hands of waiting hospital staff, the Queen emerged in good spirits She left hospital this afternoon after being admitted with symptoms of gastroenteritis 24 hours ago

Despite suffering from debilitating sickness, the 86-year-old refused to allow an ambulance to collect her

This morning she received a visit from her personal physician, Professor John Cunningham, who arrived by scooter. The visit it is believed to have led to her being discharged

It would be entirely routine for him to assess the Queen in this way, in addition to the care she is receiving from the private hospital's own staff

Doctors monitored the Queen very closely before her exit. They were checking that the 86-year-old was properly hydrated and monitoring her pulse and blood pressure

Exit: The smiling Queen left King Edward VII Hospital this afternoon and thanked staff for their care over the past 24 hours Going home: Despite feeling very poorly over recent days Her Majesty showed she was in good spirits as she left hospital and got into her Bentley (right)



After warmly thanking the nursing staff for their care, she sped off without a glance at the waiting cameras.

A few minutes later her standard rose at Buckingham Palace, indicating that her first stop was her official London home.



A source told the Mail: ‘The Queen will be staying at Buckingham Palace overnight.’

She has cancelled her official engagements for the rest of the week, including a two-day trip to Rome, but it is anticipated that she will be well enough to undertake a number of official engagements scheduled for next week.

It was only the fifth occasion in her six- decade reign that the Queen had been taken to hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge was treated for acute pregnancy-related sickness in December

Doctors have speculated that the Queen is suffering from norovirus, the winter vomiting bug that closes hundreds of hospital wards every year

Despite being allowed home the Queen's diary for this week would remain suspended, the Palace has confirmed

Her Majesty did - 'reluctantly' - agree to cancel her engagements for the next week, including a high-profile visit to Rome, which indicates that the stomach bug which struck on Friday has taken its toll