Britain's Prince Philip, the 96-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, was admitted to hospital and will have surgery on his hip on Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said.

"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon, for planned surgery on his hip which will take place tomorrow," a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Philip, whose title is the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from public life last August although he said he would still attend some events.

Last June, he spent two days in hospital as a precautionary measure for the treatment of an infection and he pulled out of another event in March because of ill health, according to British newspaper reports.

He did not attend an annual service attended by the monarch on Thursday because of a hip problem, a royal source said last week.