The Duke of Edinburgh has undergone heart surgery after being taken to hospital last night after suffering chest pains, Buckingham Palace said.
Prince Philip, 90, was flown from Sandringham to the cardiothoracic unit at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and had surgery for a blocked artery. A palace spokeswoman said he had a stent fitted at the hospital and was expected to remain there under observation for several days.
The Royal Family are spending Christmas at the country retreat in Norfolk.
Papworth describes itself as the UK's largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital and the country's main heart and lung transplant centre. It treats more than 22,800 inpatient and day cases and 53,400 outpatients each year from across the UK. Its services include cardiology, respiratory medicine, and cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation. Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to the Queen, said: "The Duke of Edinburgh's health is actually pretty good given that he is 90." Mr Arbiter, who is Sky's royal commentator, told the broadcaster: "He has had these chest pains before and I don't think it's anything untoward, but given his age they are being safe rather than sorry." The royals are spending their traditional Christmas holiday at the Queen's much-loved private home in Norfolk, which is set in 60 acres of gardens, offering the perfect sanctuary for the break. The Duchess of Cambridge is spending her first Christmas as a member of the Royal Family. On Christmas Day, Kate will join the Duke of Cambridge and other members of the family at the morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the royal estate. The Duchess will undoubtedly be the centre of attention and a large media presence is expected when the Queen and her family walk to and from church, greeting well-wishers along the way. Spending Christmas with a partner's family for the first time is daunting but the royals bring added pressures. The Duchess, used to her own family's Christmas habits and traditions, will have to follow the rules of Sandringham. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner are served at set times and a number of changes of outfit will be needed - especially for dinner. Negotiating the protocols of family etiquette will take some getting used to but Prince William will be on hand to offer guidance and reassurance to his wife. Margaret Holder, a royal commentator, told the BBC: "It's obviously very worrying for the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family who are gathering at Sandringham for Christmas. "He is 90, he has been in remarkable health. For somebody who has just done an 11-day tour of Australia at 90, that's amazing in itself as it is. "A lot of people that age could not even manage to deal with the long flights there and back. "I think it might have taken something out of him, I think they are pushing him to the limits doing that." The gathering at Sandringham is usually for royals only, with the relatives of spouses absent. Kate will have to see her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, and siblings, Pippa and James, another time to celebrate Christmas. So will England rugby player Mike Tindall, the husband of Zara Phillips, another newcomer to the Royal Family who married the Queen's granddaughter in the summer. By tomorrow the last members of the family will have arrived and they will observe the German ritual of opening their presents ahead of Christmas Day - something Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did. On Christmas Day, the royals will awake to find stockings filled with small gifts and fruit at the foot of their beds. After breakfast it is the short journey to St Mary Magdalene where they celebrate Christmas with residents who live on the estate. Back at the house, lunch is served at 1pm and they indulge in a giant turkey, reared at Sandringham. One of the highlights of the day is undoubtedly when the royals gather around a television to watch the monarch's traditional Christmas broadcast. The Queen quietly leaves the room and lets her family watch the national address by themselves. Boxing Day is likely to involve outdoor pursuits such as shooting, riding and walking.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article