Prince Philip to retire from royal events

The Duke of Edinburgh will end all his public engagements as of autumn this year, Buckingham Palace has announced Thursday.

The announcement followed an emergency meeting of the Queen's household staff this morning, creating various speculations on social media.

Prince Philip, 95, will attend scheduled occasions until August, according to the statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year," the statement said.

"In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen," it added.

According to the statement, Prince Philip "will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."

The Queen "will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements", the palace said.

The Thursday morning's emergency meeting of the Queen's household staff sparked various rumours surrounding the health of the Queen and Prince Philip earlier.

Queen Elizabeth II, who is 91 years old, had missed numerous royal and festive occasions last Christmas due to health issues what the Palace described as "a heavy flue".

Prince Philip spent 11 days in hospital care because of a bladder infection in 2015.

The Queen and the Duke are to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Nov. 20 this year.

"The Duke of Edinburgh is patron, president or a member of over 780 organisations," and he might appear at occasional events, the statement also said.