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LONDON: Prince Philip of Great Britain (pix), Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, was admitted to a London hospital overnight as a “precautionary measure,” Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday, and sources said it was not due to coronavirus symptoms.
The 99-year-old was said to be “in a good mood” at King Edward VII Private Hospital in Marylebone, where the palace said he was taken Tuesday night after feeling unwell.
The Duke of Edinburgh, as he is formally known, is expected to “remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and rest,” the palace statement added.
The sources told AFP that he was not taken by ambulance and that he felt well enough to enter the hospital.
The police officers were outside the hospital in central London.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said it had sent its “best wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh as he undergoes a few days’ rest in hospital.”
The royal family continued their duties on Wednesday, with the queen speaking to Royal Navy Admiral Tony Radakin from Windsor Palace, while Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited a hospital in Birmingham.
Rare appearances
The 94-year-old prince and queen have upheld the social distancing rules at Windsor Castle, because their age puts them at higher risk for Covid-19.
The couple received their first vaccinations in January, the palace said in a rare public comment on the royal couple’s private health affairs at the time.
Prince Philip retired from public service in 2017 at the age of 96 after a two-night hospitalization for an infection. He then underwent hip surgery in 2018.
In January 2019, he was unharmed after his vehicle was involved in a road accident that injured two people near the monarch’s Sandringham property in eastern England.
Philip spent four nights at King Edward Hospital in December 2019, where he was treated for what was described as a “pre-existing condition” and was discharged on Christmas Eve of that year.
During the pandemic he has made few public or private appearances.
He attended the wedding ceremony of his granddaughter, Princess Beatriz, last July, shortly before celebrating their 73rd wedding anniversary.
The latest hospitalization renewed concerns about Philip’s health before his 100th birthday in June this year.
Philip, the oldest consort in British history, was born on the island of Corfu with Danish and Greek royal titles.
When he was 18 months old, his uncle, King Constantine of Greece, was forced to abdicate and Philip fled the country with his parents and four sisters, initially settling in France.
‘Strength and permanence’
Felipe had been formally introduced to Princess Elizabeth, the future queen, in July 1939 and they kept in touch throughout the war, meeting on several occasions. The couple married at Westminster Abbey in London in 1947.
The couple celebrated their platinum wedding in November 2017 in Windsor, with Philip a constant presence alongside the monarch, who has referred to him as his “strength and stay.”
He put aside his personal ambitions to support his wife, sharing his sense of duty and tradition and has put his energy into numerous charities including the World Wide Fund for Nature for Nature and the Duke of Edinburgh Prize.
However, his public appearances caused offense at times. In 1986, during a visit to China, he allegedly told students at the University of Edinburgh: “If you stay here much longer, everyone will be left with their eyes tangled.”
While the queen has reduced her public engagements in recent years, her son and heir, Prince Charles, has increasingly assumed a prominent role, along with his eldest son, Prince William and his wife Kate.
The family has tried to galvanize British morale during the pandemic, which has caused more than 118,000 deaths in the country. -AFP
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