Prince Philip statement by Buckingham Palace 'designed to reassure'

The palace statement about Prince Philip's health has been designed to reassure.

This is a 96-year-old who is reported to be in "good spirits" and who is in hospital as a "precautionary measure".

He was driven there in a car, not an ambulance, from Windsor, where he was said to have been on great form when he attended the first day of the Ascot races.

In sweltering heat on Tuesday, he was dressed in a morning suit.

The prince, like his wife and countless other people, isn't overly keen on publicising the precise nature of what ails him.

Given that he is being treated for a pre-existing condition, it is safe to assume that he is suffering from a reoccurrence of a bladder infection that laid him low on two occasions in 2012.

He is not bedridden, according to officials, but up and about inside the private hospital.

Philip's current good mood may be tested if, as was the case five years ago, he remains an in-patient for several days.