Prince Philip 'Unwell' Ahead of Queen's Service

Prince Philip has become unwell on the eve of a service marking the Queen's 60 years on the throne and missed an official engagement on Monday evening.

The Duke of Edinburgh was due to join Her Majesty at a gala event for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) at St James' Palace, but pulled out at the last minute.

However, the 91-year-old prince is expected to attend Tuesday's Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Duke is unwell, but he will be at the service tomorrow."

She was unable to give details of the Duke's illness.

More than 20 members of the royal family are due to attend the event.

The Duke of Cambridge and a heavily pregnant Duchess of Cambridge will be among the 2,000-strong congregation.

It is the first time they have attended a public event at the Abbey since they were married there two years ago.

Prince Harry, the Duke of York, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Zara Phillips and her husband Mike Tindall will also attend.

The Queen was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury on June 2, 1953, before a congregation of more than 8,000 invited guests.

The Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, will conduct Tuesday's service, while the new Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby will give the address.

Prime Minister David Cameron is to give a reading, as will the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma.

After the service, the Queen and members of the royal family will attend a private lunch in College Hall.

At the RNIB event, Her Majesty enjoyed performances by West End star Michael Ball and operatic quartet Il Divo.

Ball sang People from the musical Funny Girl. "I thought it appropriate for the event," he said before the reception.

"I have sung for the Queen on various occasions, including when we did a version of Les Miserables at Windsor Castle a few years ago to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale with France. This is a great cause."

Il Divo performed a Spanish version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

One of the group, Urs Buhler, from Switzerland, said afterwards: "It was an unusual performance for us, in such an intimate room.

"This was the fourth or fifth time we have performed in front of the Queen - we have done the Royal Variety Performance two or three times."

Another star attending - but not singing this year, though he has done so at the event before - was Rod Stewart, with wife Penny Lancaster. Both are vice presidents of RNIB.

Stewart said he had been suffering from a virus. "I'm feeling great and my show at the O2 tomorrow will go ahead," he said.