Prince Philip Taken to Hospital for 'Chest Pains:' Could It Be Heart Attack?

Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip has been taken to the hospital after experiencing chest pains, The Associated Press reports.

British royal officials say the Duke of Edinburgh left Sandringham, the royal estate in rural Norfolk, earlier Friday and was taken to the cardiac unit at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, UK.

Prince Philip, 90, was taken to the hospital for precautionary tests. The royal family, including Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, were at Sandringham for Christmas.

Could It Be Heart Attack?

Although the royal family has not given out any information about Prince Philip's chest pains back in 2007, Queen Elizabeth II's husband was rumored to have been suffering from a decade-long heart condition that was being kept hidden from the press.

The Daily Mail and the Evening Standard both reported that the British royal consort needed regular medication and that his staff were told to take him to the hospital if he showed the slightest signs of dizziness, pain or weakness.

British royal officials roundly denied the claims, even as they asserted that health problems weren't the press' business.

We never comment on the health matters of the royal family, a Palace spokesman told Metro. The source insisted that there was no evidence of heart problems and that his schedule has not been scaled down in any way.

Prince Philip also sustained a back injury in 2009 that had the media up in arms, but this, too, turned out to be a minor muscle injury, hardly a cause for concern for the unusually robust senior citizen. When a journalist asked him then if he was feeling frail, the infamously outspoken royal snapped, Do I look bloody ill?

The royal consort was also taken to the hospital for a chest infection in 2008, according to BBC.

Diamond Jubilee

Even if the tests don't turn up anything serious, however, it's possible Prince Philip could be sitting out during the Christmas festivals, and even may have to cancel some appearances during a series of tours around England in 2012 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year on the throne.

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations will culminate in a London celebration in early June. It is expected to include a pageant of up to 1,000 boats up the River Thames, an unprecedented affair.