Prince Philip won’t be sleeping in his palace bed tonight. The 96-year-old was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London on Tuesday, April 3, for previously scheduled hip surgery, Buckingham Palace said in a statement. His operation is scheduled for Wednesday.
His Royal Highness, who has been married to Queen Elizabeth II for 70 years, did not attend Easter services with his wife at Windsor Castle on Sunday, April 1. Five days earlier he backed out of the Royal Maundy Service at St. George’s chapel. A royal source told Reuters: “The duke was keen to attend but made this decision because he was experiencing some trouble with his hip.”
The duke missed Prince Andrew’s appointment as the new Colonel of the Granadier on March 22, but the Palace declined to comment on that matter that the time.
Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to her husband in November 1997 during their Golden Wedding Celebrations.
“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” the notoriously private royal revealed in her speech at the people’s banquet. “And I and his whole family, in this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”
Prince Harry described Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s relationship in the 2012 documentary Diamond Queen. “Regardless of whether my grandfather seems to be doing his own thing, sort of wandering off like a fish down the river, the fact that he’s there, personally, I don’t think that she could do it without him,” the 33-year-old royal said. “Especially when they’re both at this age.”
Princess Eugenie gushed that Prince Philip is her grandmother’s “rock.”
“I think Grandpa is incredible,” she raved in the documentary. “He really is strong and consistent.”
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