LONDON?? Queen Elizabeth II's husband received a coronary stent Friday after experiencing chest pains, British royal officials said.
Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was taken from Sandringham, the queen's sprawling estate in rural Norfolk, to the cardiac unit at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, where he will remain a "short time" for observation.
"The Duke of Edinburgh was found to have a blocked coronary artery which caused his chest pains,'' the palace said in a statement late Friday. "This was treated successfully by the minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting.''
During stenting, a blocked heart artery is cleared and propped open with a small mesh tube called a stent. The stent is often fitted through a small incision in the chest during keyhole surgery.
Earlier, officials reported Philip, 90, would undergo "precautionary tests."
The Press Association said Papworth describes itself as the UK's largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital, treating more than 22,800 inpatient and day cases and 53,400 outpatients each year.
Will and Kate plan Pacific Islands trip for queen's jubilee
Philip is known for his good health and rarely misses royal engagements. He came down with a cold in October and canceled an overnight visit to Italy in order to recover. That illness came shortly after Philip accompanied the queen on a a busy 11-day official royal tour of Australia.
Upon his 90th birthday in June, he announced plans to cut back his official duties, but the BBC said that there had been no suggestion that Philip was in ill health recently.
Born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921, he served in Britain's Royal Navy before marrying Elizabeth in 1947. They have four children, including the heir to the throne, Charles.
The prince has no clear-cut constitutional role. In private he is regarded as the unquestioned head of his family, but protocol obliges the man dubbed "the second handshake" to spend his public life one step behind his wife.
He has championed numerous charities over the years, but is advising the ones he heads to start planning an orderly transition as he plots the end of his working life.
It had been expected to be a traditional Christmas weekend for the queen's extended family, which now includes the former Kate Middleton, followed by a year's worth of festivities to mark the queen's 60th year on the throne.
Philip traditionally organizes the Boxing Day shoot at Sandringham, British press reported.
Most of the senior royals, including Prince William and his wife, now formally known as the Duchess of Cambridge, will be dispatched across the globe to help the aging monarch celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in grand style.
Elizabeth and Prince Philip had planned to mark the event with a series of tours throughout England.
The culminating celebration in London in early June had been expected to include an unprecedented pageant on the River Thames with up to 1000 boats taking part.
The Diamond Jubilee will mean extra overseas travel for many royals: Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, will jet off to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea; William and Kate will represent the queen in Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and the tiny island of Tuvalu; while Prince Harry is being sent to the Caribbean to tour Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Kate dazzles in black velvet, diamonds and rubies
The queen and Philip had planned trips throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from late March to mid-July. She was then expected to help open the Olympic Games in July before beginning her summer holiday.
Palace officials said Friday that the royals had planned to attend a Christmas service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the estate grounds.
The family traditionally exchanges gifts at Sandringham on Christmas Eve.
After the church service, the royals usually walk on the grounds, have a gala lunch, and gather to watch the queen's prerecorded television broadcast, a tradition that began with a radio address by King George V in 1932.
This article includes reporting by TODAY.com staff, The Associated Press and Reuters.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45779248/ns/today-today_people/
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