Prince Edward was forced to miss a significant royal engagement in London today due to illness, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
The Duke of Edinburgh had been scheduled to attend a ceremony at St James’s Palace alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, where the King presented the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education to 19 universities and colleges.
However, Edward was absent from the event. Palace sources say he has been pacing himself after coming down with a cold and chose to step back from public duties today to recover.
The Duke was last seen publicly two weeks ago when he travelled to Italy to attend events during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Today’s ceremony recognised outstanding innovation and excellence across various fields, including sustainability in the textile industry, higher education in prisons, and groundbreaking research into Paralympic performance.
Princess Anne attended in her capacity as Chancellor of The University of Edinburgh, which received an award for its Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.
Following the presentations, the royals hosted a reception with the recipients and heard more about their work.
The winners of the sixteenth round of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education (2024-2026) included institutions such as The University of Edinburgh, Gateshead College, Hull College, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, Lancaster University, the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, Liverpool John Moores University, London Metropolitan University, Loughborough University, Newcastle University, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, North West Regional College, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, Royal College of Music, University of Salford, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), and the University of Southampton.
The absence of Prince Edward marks a cautious approach to his schedule as he recovers from the minor illness. No further details on his condition have been released, but sources indicate he is expected to resume public duties soon.
