Updated May 04, 2017 23:00:44

Prince Philip will step down from all public engagements after August, Buckingham Palace has said in a press release.

The announcement came after an emergency meeting of all royal staff prompted a flurry of speculation about the health of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The 91-year-old Queen and the Duke, who turns 96 next month, have trimmed their workload in recent years but still regularly carry out official duties.

"Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying the Queen," the palace's statement read.

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

They have both been cutting their workload in recent years, passing on many responsibilities to son and heir Prince Charles and grandsons Princes William and Harry.

Prince Philip conducted 184 official engagements in the year to March 2016, official figures show.

British Prime Minister Theresa May paid tribute to Prince Philip for his contribution to Britain and beyond, his "steadfast support" of Queen Elizabeth, and for his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes.

"On behalf of the whole country, I want to offer our deepest gratitude and good wishes to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh following today's announcement that he will stand down from public duties in the Autumn," she said in a statement on Thursday.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Prince Philip had "dedicated his life to supporting the Queen and our country with a clear sense of public duty".

In a statement, the Opposition Leader said: "We thank Prince Philip for his service to the country and wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement."

Acting Australian Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce commended the Prince for his years of service to the Commonwealth.

"It says something about an individual that they get to the age of 95 before they officially decide to retire — it's something to aim for," Mr Joyce said.

"Her majesty, Queen Elizabeth will continue on tirelessly and we wish her all the very best and maybe they can have a bit more time together at home."

Patronage of charities and causes to continue

The announcement came a day after the Prince, who has a long association with cricket and is officially involved with over 20 cricketing institutions worldwide, opened a new stand at Lord's Cricket Ground in central London.

The palace said he will continue to be associated with the over 780 organisations he is patron, president or a member of, although he will no longer play an active role.

The longest-serving consort in British history (the royal couple will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in November), Prince Philip has no constitutional role other than Privy Counsellor, but is also Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Captain-General of the Royal Marines and Colonel-in-Chief of several British and overseas regiments.

He has a reputation for having a genuine concern for people, which led to the development of The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, which provides social and physical challenges to thousands of international participants each year.

"If you could get young people to succeed in any area of activity, that mere sensation of success would spread over into a lot of others," he said in 1987, talking about the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, who helped hatch the idea for the awards.

He also has an active interest in environmental issues, becoming the first UK president of the World Wildlife Fund in 1981, serving until 1996.

"It is an old cliche to say that the future is in the hands of the young. This is no longer true," he told the WWF Congress Fund in 1970.

"The quality of life to be enjoyed or the existence to be survived by our children and future generations is in our hands now."

'He was very willing to help Australia'

Royal expert David Flint told the ABC Prince Philip had been very willing to help Australia.

"[He] has been at our call whenever we wanted him to play significant roles. There's a great advantage in all sorts of activities," he said.

"The Canadians use the Royal Family more than we do but it is a significant thing in the eyes of the rest of the world to have some activity going on in other country, with the member of a Royal Family present.

"He was very willing to help Australia in that regard."

He said the Queen had received enormous support from the Duke and perhaps could not have done so well without his counsel.

"It's hard to imagine them separately because they're very much a partnership and she obviously depended enormously on this support and his counsel."

ABC/wires

Topics: royal-and-imperial-matters, united-kingdom

First posted May 04, 2017 19:09:00