Prince Philip admitted to hospital for hip surgery

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the UK has been admitted to King Edward VII Hospital for a planned hip surgery, a royal spokesperson of the Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Tuesday.

The 96-year-old Duke is scheduled to undergo the surgery on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Prince Philip was absent from an Easter service, which was attended by his wife and other members of the royal family at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, which is also the venue for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19, CNN reported.

The Duke, who is the longest-serving consort in British history, has not been in good health in recent times.

In June last year, Prince Philip was admitted to a hospital for two days as a "precautionary measure" for the treatment of an undisclosed infection.

The Duke retired from 65 years of public service in August last year. This came after the palace originally said that the 96-year-old would "wind down" his workload gradually, though he was keen to carry out his duties.

Queen Elizabeth, 91, has also begun to reduce her duties due to her advancing age, handing over some of her responsibilities to her heir, Prince Charles.

The royal couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in November last year.

They were married at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947, when they were still Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten respectively.