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| Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party. Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images |
June 6, London – Prince Philip has been rushed to the
hospital last night to undergo an operation due to recurring bouts with
abdominal pain. The duke, who will
celebrate his 92nd birthday this month, has undergone a series of
tests last week, which prompted him to undergo exploratory surgery under
general anaesthetic, reports Mail Online.
But ever the steadfast soldier, the frail royal consort even
managed to appear on seven high profile public engagements this week, including
a visit at a naval station, two dinners and the church service commemorating
Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th coronation anniversary. He was even seen rubbing
elbows and throwing jokes with some 8,000 guests at yesterday’s Buckingham
Palace garden party. But by 5:30, quietly disappeared from the crowd and proceeded
to the London Clinic, a private hospital on Harley Street. He is scheduled to
have the surgery today and will most likely recuperate at the hospital for two
weeks.
Given the frail condition of his health, Prince Philip cancelled
two engagements last week, including a lecture at Windsor Castle and a
reception at Buckingham Palace, although Palace staff pointed out it wasn’t due
to abdominal pain.
Royal can reveal that the Duke has “been feeling under the
weather” for a few days prior to his hospitalization, not because of abdominal
pain, “but that is because he had lost his voice. The two are quite unconnected.”
Palace insider noted that he left the Buckingham Palace garden
party “quite calmly.” He was at his best and nobody else at the party suspected
that something was wrong with him.
The duke’s hospitalization spree since last year prompts
further questions about the Duke of Edinburgh’s workload and that of the Queen,
who herself has been hospitalized a few weeks ago. In fact, the Queen had to skip the Commonwealth meeting this year. Furthermore, the some most active
members of the British Royal Family are way beyond retirement years and have
recently endured the frailty of old health. The Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, suffered a stroke and his sister Princess Alexandra was also diagnosed with
a serious condition. Both had to scale down their public duties.
Buckingham Palace had announced earlier that the royal
couple “would be scaling back on their long-haul foreign travel,” giving the younger
royals the burden of carrying out official duties. Buckingham Palace Clarence House
and Downing Street have been talking about Prince Charles’ taking an even more
prominent role in day to day affairs. Meanwhile, heavy pressure is also laid on
Prince William and the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge as it seems that the call
for them to become full-time working royals will turn louder and louder in the
succeeding months. After all, they’re the closest couple in line to the throne,
next to Prince Charles, so there’s no reason why they should keep on talking
about living low-profile royal existence. They owe the privileges that they
enjoy from the very position that they’re in right now, so, they should really
feel it’s their obligation to serve country first before thinking of
themselves.
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