British art collector Charles Saatchi has accepted a police caution for assault following an incident with his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, outside a London restaurant. The Sunday People tabloid showed pictures of Saatchi, a wealthy 70-year-old former advertising executive, with his hand around Lawson's neck as they sat at a table outside a seafood restaurant. The publicity-shy art collector, who owns London's Saatchi Gallery, agreed to accept a police caution on Monday, according to media reports Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Former advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi on Monday downplayed photographs in which he is shown grabbing his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, around the neck, saying it was just a "playful tiff." Britain's Sunday People newspaper published photographs of Saatchi with his hands around his wife's neck, and with her in tears, while they were having dinner on the terrace of a London restaurant.

British art collector Charles Saatchi on Monday sought to downplay photographs apparently showing him grabbing his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, around the throat at a London restaurant. Saatchi, a wealthy 70-year-old former advertising executive, said in a newspaper interview that the couple had a "playful tiff" but had patched things up by the time they got home. The publicity-shy collector, who owns London's Saatchi Gallery, has been widely criticised in the press and on social media networks after the photographs appeared in the Sunday People tabloid.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip walked out of hospital on Monday, 10 days after the 92-year-old underwent exploratory abdominal surgery. The royal patriarch, who went under the knife on June 7, smiled and waved as he left the private London Clinic in the centre of the British capital. He had been expected to remain in hospital for up to two weeks following the operation, and he plans to spend two months recuperating. rjm/lc