LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth’s 90-year-old husband spent Christmas Day in a hospital bed after successful surgery to clear a blocked heart artery, missing the royal family’s celebrations at its rural Sandringham estate in eastern England.

Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, Britain’s longest serving consort, was in “good spirits” when the Queen and other royals visited him on Saturday, but he was also said to be eager to leave.

Members of the royal family were expected to make another trip to the Papworth heart and chest centre near Cambridge to see Philip after their traditional Christmas lunch on Sunday, British media reported.

The prince will probably have to spend most, if not all, of the Christmas holiday period in hospital to give doctors time to monitor his recovery from the minor operation on Friday night, after he suffered chest pains in the run-up to Christmas.

Despite his age, he has been in generally good health this year, seeing through a hectic schedule which included the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, a jaunt to Australia and a visit from U.S. President Barack Obama.

On turning 90 in June, he said he was looking forward to slowing down a little, but the Queen, 85, celebrates her 60th year on the throne in 2012, which will involve a busy tour across Britain and several other high-profile engagements.

The royals, including newly-weds Prince William and Catherine, attended a Christmas church service at Sandringham on Sunday. The family appeared relaxed, some smiling and chatting as they entered the church. Well-wishers waited outside in mild winter air to catch a glimpse of the royals as they arrived.

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth’s 90-year-old husband spent Christmas Day in a hospital bed after successful surgery to clear a blocked heart artery, missing the royal family’s celebrations at its rural Sandringham estate in eastern England.

Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, Britain’s longest serving consort, was in “good spirits” when the Queen and other royals visited him on Saturday, but he was also said to be eager to leave.

Members of the royal family were expected to make another trip to the Papworth heart and chest centre near Cambridge to see Philip after their traditional Christmas lunch on Sunday, British media reported.

The prince will probably have to spend most, if not all, of the Christmas holiday period in hospital to give doctors time to monitor his recovery from the minor operation on Friday night, after he suffered chest pains in the run-up to Christmas.

Despite his age, he has been in generally good health this year, seeing through a hectic schedule which included the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, a jaunt to Australia and a visit from U.S. President Barack Obama.

On turning 90 in June, he said he was looking forward to slowing down a little, but the Queen, 85, celebrates her 60th year on the throne in 2012, which will involve a busy tour across Britain and several other high-profile engagements.

The royals, including newly-weds Prince William and Catherine, attended a Christmas church service at Sandringham on Sunday. The family appeared relaxed, some smiling and chatting as they entered the church. Well-wishers waited outside in mild winter air to catch a glimpse of the royals as they arrived.

LONDON (Reuters) – Riots and bankers’ greed have sent Britain’s communities “spinning apart in the dark” this year, the head of the Church of England will say in his Christmas Day sermon, warning against building a society on foundations of selfishness and fear.

Rioting and looting erupted across England this summer, leaving some towns ransacked and divided, while public anger against irresponsible behaviour and big bonuses in the banking sector has remained strong throughout the financial crisis.

“The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society. Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will say at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England on Sunday, according to extracts released in advance by his office.

“Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today’s financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark.”

Williams, the spiritual leader for 77 million Anglicans around the world, told the Conservative-led coalition government earlier in December to consider the social impact of its austerity drive, particularly in cuts to youth services.

He warned that Britain could face more riots unless communities and the authorities did more to reach out to disenfranchised young people.

Williams, no stranger to courting controversy with his remarks about politics, fairness in society and morality in global affairs, has also previously said the wealthy are not bearing their fair share of spending cuts.

LONDON, Dec 25 (Reuters) – Riots and bankers’ greed have sent Britain’s communities “spinning apart in the dark” this year, the head of the Church of England will say in his Christmas Day sermon, warning against building a society on foundations of selfishness and fear.

Rioting and looting erupted across England this summer, leaving some towns ransacked and divided, while public anger against irresponsible behaviour and big bonuses in the banking sector has remained strong throughout the financial crisis.

“The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society. Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will say at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England on Sunday, according to extracts released in advance by his office.

“Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today’s financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark.”

Williams, the spiritual leader for 77 million Anglicans around the world, told the Conservative-led coalition government earlier in December to consider the social impact of its austerity drive, particularly in cuts to youth services.

He warned that Britain could face more riots unless communities and the authorities did more to reach out to disenfranchised young people.

Williams, no stranger to courting controversy with his remarks about politics, fairness in society and morality in global affairs, has also previously said the wealthy are not bearing their fair share of spending cuts.

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth visited her 90-year-old husband Prince Philip in hospital on Saturday as Britain’s longest-serving royal consort recovered from minor heart surgery to ease chest pains he had suffered in the days before Christmas.

Buckingham Palace said the Philip had a “good night” after an operation to ease a blocked artery, but it appeared likely he would miss the royal family’s traditional exchange of Christmas gifts on Saturday evening at the Sandringham royal estate.

Prince Charles, Prince Edward, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne also visited Papworth hospital near Cambridge to see their recuperating father, who said earlier this year he was looking forward to slowing down.

“Prince Philip was in good spirits,” a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said, describing the visits. “He will remain in hospital under observation for a short period.”

Philip had been preparing to spend Christmas with his family – including grandson Prince William and his new wife Catherine – at Sandringham in eastern England, but he may now have to spend the holiday in a hospital bed, perhaps even missing his own Boxing Day shoot.

The Duke of Edinburgh, known for his outspoken and sometimes brusque manner, has had a hectic year of engagements in 2011 including the wedding of William and Catherine, entertaining U.S. President Barack Obama and a trip to Australia.

There will be no let up next year when Elizabeth celebrates her 60th year on the throne.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone ministers agreed on Monday to boost IMF resources by 150 billion euros to ward off the debt crisis and won support for more money from EU allies, but it was unclear if the bloc would reach its 200 billion euro target after Britain bowed out.

Following a three-hour conference call, European Union finance ministers said currency zone outsiders the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden would also grant loans to the International Monetary Fund to help save the 17-nation zone.

But the EU said those lenders must first win parliamentary approval, while Britain made it clear it would not participate in the plan.

That leaves the euro zone more reliant than ever on major economies such China and on Russia, which has shown willingness to lend more to the IMF. The United States for its part is concerned about the lender’s exposure to the euro zone.

Ministers had set an informal deadline of Monday to arrive at the 200 billion figure, which was agreed by EU leaders at a summit on December 8-9. and urged other nations to take part.

“Euro area member states will provide 150 billion euros of additional resources through bilateral loans to the fund’s general resources account,” the EU finance ministers said in a joint statement after their call.

“The EU would welcome G20 members and other financially strong IMF members to support the efforts to safeguard global financial stability by contributing to the increase in IMF resources,” the statement said.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – European finance ministers looked unlikely to reach a target of boosting IMF resources by 200 billion euros to ward off the debt crisis on Monday, after Britain said it would not take part in a plan aimed specifically at helping the euro zone.

In a three-hour conference call, ministers also assessed plans for tighter euro zone fiscal rules – a new ‘fiscal compact’ – that policymakers hope will insulate the 17-country currency zone against a repeat of the two-year debt crisis.

Treasury sources said Britain had made it clear on the call it would not participate in the plan to increase IMF resources by up to 200 billion euros, with 150 billion of coming from euro zone central banks.

“We were clear that we would not be making a contribution,” one treasury source said, while another added that there was “no agreement on the 200 billion” euro funding boost.

While Sweden said it would take part, with conditions, Britain’s decision to stay on the sidelines means it is unlikely the headline goal will be reached. Ministers had set an informal deadline of Monday to arrive at the 200 billion figure, which was agreed by EU leaders at a summit on December 8-9.

The increase in IMF resources is seen as one pillar in a multi-pronged strategy to strengthen the euro zone’s fire-fighting capability and build better defenses for the future. Another pillar is making the euro zone’s existing bailout fund, the EFSF, more flexible in how it tackles the debt debacle.

Speaking during testimony to the European Parliament, ECB President Mario Draghi praised EU efforts to forge a new ‘fiscal compact’ as a solid base for responding to the crisis, and called the euro an “irreversible” project.

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle promised to mend fences with Britain on Monday after a divisive EU summit to save the euro zone left the island nation isolated in Europe.

“I am here to show you that we are willing to build bridges over troubled water,” Westerwelle told reporters at a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London.

Relations between Britain and its European Union partners, particularly France, soured when Prime Minister David Cameron refused to sign a European deal designed to help solve the debt crisis after failing to win safeguards for the City of London.

But Westerwelle said on Monday that Europe had “no hidden agenda against the City”, a clear message to those who fear Britain’s prized financial services sector could be at risk from EU countries that blame weak regulation and the market-friendly “Anglo-Saxon” model for the region’s economic malaise.

“We understand that we have mutual interests in a European common future,” Westerwelle said. “For Germany, the United Kingdom is an indispensable partner in the European Union.”

Cameron’s veto on Dec. 9 raised concerns that London could be sidelined by the EU’s 26 other members, or begin to slide out of the bloc altogether.

The German foreign minister’s conciliatory tone was further evidence of Berlin’s efforts to cool tempers over an issue that has caused tension between London and Paris in particular.

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to break with European partners by vetoing a change to the EU treaty, insisting on Monday that remaining a member of the 27-nation bloc was in Britain’s national interest.

“Britain remains a full member of the EU and the events of the last week do nothing to change that. Our membership of the EU is vital to our national interest. We are a trading nation and we need the single market for trade, investment and jobs,” Cameron told parliament during a noisy debate on last week’s European Union summit.

“We are in the EU and we want to be,” he said.

Cameron’s decision not to take part in an EU treaty change aimed at tightening fiscal rules for countries using the euro has isolated Britain in the 27-nation bloc and created the biggest rift in his coalition since he took power in May 2010.

The prime minister’s ambiguous answers on Friday to questions over Britain’s future membership of the EU sparked speculation that the UK may now be contemplating a future outside the EU, although analysts say that would damage Britain’s economy.

Cameron said the choice he had faced was a treaty without proper safeguards for Britain’s important financial services industry or no treaty. “The right answer was no treaty,” he said. “It was not an easy thing to do but it was the right thing to do.”

Cameron’s decision won praise from euro skeptics on the right wing of his Conservative Party but brought a backlash from his pro-European Liberal Democrat coalition partners.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron has made history by blocking EU treaty change in a move that has isolated Britain and this detachment will define the next chapter in this island nation’s notoriously tricky relations with continental Europe.

Cameron, who styles himself a “eurosceptic”, seems to have pushed Britain further from the heart of Europe than even “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher dared to do in her battles in the 1980s when she said “No, No, No” to Brussels increasing its powers.

The prime minister was left out in the cold in Brussels on Friday when France and Germany failed to give him the safeguards he wanted for the powerful City of London financial services industry, which accounts for 10 percent of economic output.

Cameron’s hard line may appease elements of his Conservative Party but is likely to open up a rift with his pro-Europe Liberal Democrat allies. It could also leave Britain at risk of being excluded from Brussels decisions that affect business across the nation.

“It is a black day for Britain and Europe,” Liberal Democrat Lord Oakeshott said. “We are now in the waiting room while critical decisions are being taken.”

Cameron’s tough talk, described by one senior diplomat as “clumsy”, is likely to give him short-term relief from the demands of a restive right wing of his Conservatives who have been clamouring for him to claw back powers from Brussels.

But they will be back for more, with some seeking nothing short of a complete exit.