Buckingham Palace is to complain to the Press Complaints Commission over a newspaper report alleging that the Duke of Edinburgh has prostate cancer.

In a break from the Palace’s policy of refusing to comment on stories about the Royal Family’s health, a spokesman issued a statement denying that Prince Philip had the disease and expressing anger at the report’s publication, which it described as a “serious breach” of his right to privacy.

“Buckingham Palace has always maintained that the Royal Family has a right to privacy, particularly in relation to their health,” the statement said in response to a front-page article in the Evening Standard, headlined “Prince Philip defies cancer scare”.

“On this occasion, because the damaging story is 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.”

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The statement continued: “We believe there has been a serious breach of the Duke of Edinburgh’s right to privacy and we will be taking this issue to the Press Complaints Commission.”

The Prince, 87 and long renowned for his robust health, spent three days at King Edward VII’s Hospital, a private clinic in London, in April.

The newspaper claimed that as well as receiving treatment for a chest infection, he underwent biopsies on his prostate gland after routine tests showed high levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), which can indicate prostate cancer.

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