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LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, was taken to a hospital Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Buckingham Palace said.

Officials did not provide any details about the cause of the 91-year-old's trip to the hospital, which follows two recent health scares.

Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was taken from the royal family's Balmoral estate in Scotland to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on the advice of his physician.

The palace said he traveled the 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the hospital by road.

Philip has endured several health problems recently. He was hospitalized for five days in June with a bladder infection that may have been aggravated by his prolonged appearance at a flotilla pageant marking the queen's 60-year reign.

He later resumed royal duties, attending the opening ceremony of the Olympics on July 27, watching his granddaughter Zara Phillips take part in Olympic equestrian competition two days later and carrying out engagements on the Isle of Wight on Monday. He has looked well at recent events despite his advancing years.

He was diagnosed with heart disease in December after experiencing chest pains that required him to spend Christmas in a hospital. He underwent a successful coronary stent procedure and seemed to recover well, resuming a full schedule within several weeks.

Philip is a former naval officer who married the queen in 1947. His health remained robust through his 80s, but he has appeared frailer in recent years.

When he turned 90, he said he was "winding down," and he has cut back on official duties. But he still carries out some engagements, both with his wife and on his own.

LONDON (AP) — So, were the locals lying about the lion?

Police said Monday that they've found no evidence to support area residents' claims that they'd spotted a big cat prowling the countryside near the idyllic village of St. Osyth, in the southeastern English county of Essex.

Sunday's reported sightings alarmed many of the village's 4,000 people, and authorities sent about 40 officers, tranquilizer-toting zoo experts, and a pair of heat-seeking helicopters to the area in an effort to find the beast.

But a police spokeswoman said that, after an extensive search, "we've found no evidence" of a lion. The creature spotted Sunday night may have been a large domestic cat or a wildcat, she added.

So does that mean there never was any lion?

The official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, demurred, noting that the people interviewed by police were convinced they'd spotted a lion. That aside, she said, "we've stopped searching for it."

It seems the mysterious "Essex Lion" will join a number of other mythical beasts that at times appear and then disappear into Britain's forests and seaside — particularly in the dead of summer, when journalists struggle to fill papers and news bulletins.

In 2011, there was the Hampshire White Tiger, whose alleged appearance near a sports field stopped a cricket game and led to a police alert (the tiger turned out to be a stuffed toy). And in 2007, the British media went wild over a man who claimed to have photographed a great white shark off the coast of Cornwall, in southwestern England.

The man, a bouncer, later admitted that the pictures were actually taken while on vacation in South Africa, adding that he couldn't believe anyone had been foolish enough to take the hoax seriously.