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UK's Prince Philip admitted to hospital

  • Story Highlights
  • Prince Philip, consort of UK's Queen Elizabeth, admitted to hospital with infection
  • Prince, 86, known as the Duke of Edinburgh, cancelled weekend engagements
  • Was born into the Greek royal family in 1921 but now has UK citizenship
  • Served in the Royal Navy, gave up career when he married the present queen
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, was admitted to hospital on Friday with a chest infection, Buckingham Palace said.

Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth in 1947.

The 86-year-old prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was taken to King Edward VII's Hospital in London for assessment, the palace said, and all of his weekend engagements have been canceled. No further details were available.

The Prince was seen in public last week during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to the UK.

He was due to join the Queen on a royal visit to Devon and Cornwall in southwestern England next week, as well as attending two functions at Windsor Castle. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace told the UK's Press Association that none of his engagements next week has been canceled.

Prince Philip was born into the Greek royal family in 1921, only to be smuggled out of Greece a year later aboard a British Royal Navy vessel after the king of Greece, Constantine I, his uncle, was forced to abdicate amid political instability.

A great-great grandson of Queen Victoria and a descendant of the Danish royal family, he served in the Royal Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

In 1947, he married Queen Elizabeth, then heir to the throne, renouncing his Greek royal title to become a naturalized British citizen. Following Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne in 1952 he gave up his naval career to support her in her royal duties.

Prince Philip is the patron of about 800 organizations and was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund. The prince has been a staunch defender of the royal establishment, turning against members of the family who have damaged its reputation.

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Philip is not without controversy, however. He is renowned for making what some regard as inappropriate comments and was accused of insensitive remarks after the shooting of schoolchildren in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996.

Conspiracy theorists have blamed him for having a role in Princess Diana's death in 1997, although the judge at the inquest said this week there was no evidence to support that accusation. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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