Updated at 1.44 pm

Former president and prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami has been admitted to hospital after collapsing on Friday morning, his son has said. 

Beppe Fenech Adami said his 88-year-old father, a former leader of the Nationalist Party, was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance after fainting.

After undergoing tests his condition was stable by around 1.30 pm. He is being held for observation in the hospital's cardiac ward.  

A titan of Maltese politics, Fenech Adami, popularly known as "Eddie", was prime minister from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004.

He was the seventh president of Malta, holding the position from 2004 to 2009.

Fenech Adami led the Nationalist Party to four general election victories in 1987, 1992, 1998 and 2003. 

He was also instrumental in Malta's accession to the European Union. 

Fenech Adami was hospitalised in the summer of 2015 after experiencing a similar loss of consciousness. However, was discharged a few days later.  

PN leader Bernard Grech was among the first to wish the political giant well. 

"I wish Eddie Fenech Adami a speedy recovery," he said. "You are in our prayers."

Prime Minister Robert Abela tweeted that, on behalf of the government, he wished Fenech Adami a speedy recovery.