Health fears for Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret is in hospital today for tests after reportedly feeling unwell for several days.
She was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in central London this afternoon. Streets around the private hospital are cordoned off.
A silver people carrier drew up outside the hospital and a lady-in-waiting helped the princess from the vehicle and into a wheelchair.
Margaret, 71, wore a patterned headscarf and much of her face was obscured by large sunglasses. Her lap was covered by a beige rug and her lady-in-waiting carried a walking stick into the hospital.
It is understood that the princess has been unwell recently and was brought in for a check-up. Buckingham Palace said "there is no cause for concern" but would not give details of her current health. The Palace confirmed that she is likely to be in hospital for several days.
Margaret has already suffered three strokes which have affected the left side of her body and her sight.
The Queen is known to be worried about the health of Margaret and spent as much time as possible with her younger sister during their summer break at Balmoral.
In August the wheelchair-bound princess looked frail as she joined other members of the royal family for the Queen Mother's 101st birthday celebrations at Clarence House. Margaret later joined her sister and mother at the ballet in the evening but had to leave before the interval. "Margaret is in a very bad way," a royal aide said at the time.
Margaret once enjoyed a whirl of society parties but her 60-a-day cigarette habit is believed to have been responsible for the illness that led to part of her left lung being removed in 1985.
It was on her holiday home on the Caribbean island of Mustique that she suffered her first stroke three years ago.
In 1999 she scalded her right foot and ankle in the bath there, causing injuries which confined her to a wheelchair.
Shortly before Christmas last year she suffered a second stroke followed by a severe loss of appetite.
She was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital where her mother received a blood transfusion for anaemia earlier this year.
