Queen’s husband illness overshadows jubilee festivities

Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was taken to hospital with a bladder infection on Monday, throwing a shadow over celebrations for the diamond jubilee.

Philip, who turns 91 on Sunday, was hospitalised just hours before he was due to join the queen and the royal family at a concert in front of Buckingham Palace, followed by the lighting of the centrepiece in a chain of 4,200 beacons spanning the Commonwealth.

The prince, who underwent an emergency heart procedure in December, will have to stay in hospital for several days, meaning he will miss the concert and a service of thanksgiving and ceremonial carriage procession on Tuesday.

He had appeared in jovial form on Sunday, when he and the queen spent several hours in chilly conditions as they sailed down the Thames during a river pageant of 1,000 boats.

The palace said the prince was taken to hospital from Windsor Castle “as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection, which is being accessed and treated”.

“Prince Philip will remain in hospital under observation for a few days,” the palace said, adding he was “disappointed about missing this evening’s Diamond Jubilee Concert and tomorrow’s engagements”.

The queen will appear at the concert despite her husband’s illness, a spokesman for the royal family said.

The show later Monday features performers including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Kylie Minogue.

It will culminate in the queen placing a diamond-shaped glass crystal into a special pod, lighting one of the last beacons in The Mall, the broad ceremonial avenue that leads up to the palace.

The first beacon in the chain was set ablaze at Marlborough in New Zealand, followed by lightings at 10:00pm local time in other Commonwealth countries around the globe.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard — who has openly expressed republican leanings — lit the beacon in Canberra, while a group of boy scouts and girl guides ignited the beacon in the South Pacific islands of Tonga.

A beacon will also be lit at the hotel in Kenya where the queen was woken in 1952 to be told of the death of her father, king George VI.

More than 10,000 people who won concert tickets in a ballot enjoyed a picnic in the palace gardens before the musical extravaganza to mark only the second diamond jubilee in British history.

Organisers have promised an “imaginative” use of Buckingham Palace, with 1980s ska stars Madness expected to sing their hit song “Our House” from the roof.

Other performers at the concert, which will feature a charity single co-written for the occasion by Take That’s Gary Barlow and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, include singer Shirley Bassey and Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

The organisers have refused to rule out that the queen’s grandson Prince Harry will play tambourine during a performance of the official song, called “Sing”.

Excited picnicgoers began queuing outside Buckingham Palace hours before the event.

“We’re going to be part of history, so we’re absolutely thrilled,” said Shani Hanson, a barmaid from Yorkshire in northern England who had pinned a Union Jack bow to her bottom and carefully painted her nails to match.

“To have lunch with the queen is fantastic. It’ll be something to tell the great-grandchildren,” she said.

The contents of their picnic hampers were overseen by Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal and included tea-smoked Scottish salmon; a chilled “country garden” soup made with plum tomatoes, mint and cucumber; cheese and biscuits; and strawberry crumble crunch.

After the concert, the queen will greet the crowd and light the beacon, completing a chain which includes one on each of the highest peaks in the four countries of the United Kingdom, including Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland.

The celebrations culminate on Sunday with a national service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral before a traditional carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.