LONDON -- British Queen Elizabeth II's 96-year-old husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, was hospitalized on Tuesday evening in London to receive treatment for an infection, Buckingham Palace said in a statement Wednesday morning.

The prince's illness meant he would miss the queen giving her official speech to open a new session of Parliament later on Wednesday.

The palace said Philip was admitted, "as a precautionary measure, for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition."

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The statement did not go into further detail on his illness, but said he was, "in good spirits and is disappointed to be missing the State Opening of Parliament," and the royal couple's annual pilgrimage to the Royal Ascot horse race.

Queen Elizabeth was "being kept informed" of her husband's condition as she prepared to address the nation's gathered legislators -- and the nation at large -- in the televised speech, which is used to lay out the elected government's key policy plans and ambitions for the coming months.

Philip retired from public life on May 4 this year, announcing that he would no longer play an "active role" in the dozens of organizations for which he has served as a member and patron for decades.

The prince has been hospitalized several times in recent years for issues relating to abdominal complaints and bladder infections.