Countess of Wessex loses baby

The Countess of Wessex has undergone an emergency operation following the discovery of an ectopic pregnancy.

She was rushed to hospital by air ambulance and surgeons operated to remove the foetus from her fallopian tube.

It is understood she lost a lot of blood during the two-and-a-half hour operation.

Doctors say if the condition had continued undiagnosed, it could have been life-threatening.

Sophie, 36, had felt unwell overnight and was flown to the King Edward VII Hospital, central London, from the Wessexes' home at Bagshot Park, Surrey.

Her husband Prince Edward was at her bedside after the lengthy operation. He had been to Buckingham Palace to inform the Queen before comforting Sophie.

Her condition after the major operation is said to be "comfortable".

It is unclear whether Sophie and Edward actually knew she was pregnant, such is the nature of an ectopic pregnancy, where the baby develops in a fallopian tube instead of the womb.

Certainly, no announcement of a royal pregnancy had been made. When they married more than two years ago, the former Sophie Rhys-Jones said she wanted to start a family.