Buckingham Palace Wednesday issued a stern denial of a newspaper report alleging that 87-year-old Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The report in London's Evening Standard newspaper, headlined Prince Philip defies cancer scare, was "untrue" and constituted a "serious breach of privacy," a statement from Buckingham Palace said.

The paper reported that Prince Philip was diagnosed with the condition while he was being treated for a stubborn chest infection in a London hospital in April.

"Buckingham Palace has always maintained that members of the Royal Family have a right to privacy, particularly in relation to their personal health. For this reason, we have always refused to confirm or deny the persistent rumours that circulate about their health, particularly during the quieter news months."

"We will continue to observe this long-standing practice; but on this occasion, because the damaging story is now being reported widely, the Duke of Edinburgh has authorised us to confirm that the claim made by the Evening Standard that he has received a 'diagnosis of prostate cancer' is untrue," said the statement.

Because of the serious breach of privacy that had occurred, the case would be reported to the Press Complaint Commission, an independent watchdog charged with monitoring media intrusion into private spheres.