Updated June 21, 2017 21:21:19

Photo: Prince Philip was admitted as a precaution, the palace said. (AP: John Stilwell)

The Duke of Edinburgh, the 96-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has been admitted to hospital with an infection and missed the formal opening of Parliament.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip was admitted as a precautionary measure for treatment, and that the infection arose from a pre-existing condition.

The spokesman added that the Duke remained in "good spirits".

Prince Philip has been by the Queen's side throughout her 65 years on the throne and she has described him as her "strength and stay".

He was due to attend the opening of Parliament for the Queen's speech and was "disappointed" to miss the event, the spokesman said.

Prince Charles, the Queen's son, accompanied her to the opening of Parliament instead.

Last month, Buckingham Palace announced that after seven decades of service he was stepping down from all public engagements from August.

The announcement came after an emergency meeting of all staff prompted a flurry about the health of both the Duke and the Queen.

It began with The Daily Mail reporting a "highly unusual" emergency meeting had been called at Buckingham Palace, which prompted a flurry of rumours about the meeting's purpose.

Both Prince Philip and the Queen, who is 91, have suffered recent health scares.

They developed severe colds over Christmas that forced the Queen to miss the traditional Christmas Service.

Prince Philip was also treated in hospital in 2012 after suffering a bladder infection, an illness that overshadowed the latter stages of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: royal-and-imperial-matters, human-interest, united-kingdom

First posted June 21, 2017 19:58:10