Prince Philip has been advised by his doctors to miss the Battle of Jutland commemorations in Scotland tomorrow.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 94, was scheduled to attend a service at St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, tomorrow, followed commemorative event at Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery in Orkney. He was to be joined by his daughter, Princess Anne, but now doctors have told him he should not attend.
The Battle of Jutland was a WWI naval combat – the largest of its kind – which saw the Royal Navy tackle the Imperial German Navy off the coast of Denmark from 31st May to 1st June in 1916.
The Navy was trying to keep the Germans away from British shipping lanes.
It is unclear who won the battle since, more ships and twice as many sailors were lost by the British. The German ships, however, avoided contact with the British after Jutland.
The latest Royal engagements for this week 30th May – 5th June
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson has said Philip is not going into hospital, nor is he expected to be seeing his medical team any time soon, implying he is not ill: “The background is that this is on the doctor’s order, but there are no plans for him to go to hospital.”
“This is a temporary health thing.”
No doubt Philip, who served in WWII, was keen to attend and is irked by missing the event; he is, however, still to attend other scheduled engagements this week, which include taking the salute at the Sound Retreat on Wednesday, and hosting a dinner at Windsor Castle on Thursday.
It is likely a preventative step, considering the travel involved. The Duke of Edinburgh suffered from a water infection during The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 after standing in the rain at the Thames pageant. He underwent surgery on a blocked artery in 2013, recouping at Sandringham.