Prince Edward’s Wife Hospitalized

Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, was airlifted to a hospital Thursday for emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy, Britain’s Press Assn. news agency said.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the type of surgery but said the 36-year-old countess of Wessex was recovering.

There had been no announcement that she was pregnant. In an ectopic pregnancy, the fetus develops in a fallopian tube.

The news agency said the countess was “comfortable” after surgery at King Edward VII Hospital in London.

The Berkshire Ambulance Service said it was called to Edward and Sophie’s home, Bagshot Park, on Thursday for a female patient who had a “sudden illness” at home.

“The countess was taken to hospital by air ambulance this morning after feeling unwell overnight,” Buckingham Palace said. “She is expected to stay in hospital for the next few days.”

Edward was at his wife’s side, the palace said.

The former Sophie Rhys-Jones, daughter of a tire salesman, was a successful businesswoman when she married Edward in June 1999. The couple have no children.

Edward, 37, is the fourth child of Queen Elizabeth II and the last of the queen’s children to marry.

The countess has continued to work at her public relations firm, R-JH, despite criticism that the work could make inappropriate use of her royal connections.

She and Edward met at a tennis club in London in 1993 while she was doing public relations at a charity event.