LONDON: Britain’s King Charles was seen in public on Tuesday for the first time since it was revealed he was suffering from a form of cancer.
Meanwhile, his estranged younger son Prince Harry flew to London to see him.
Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that Charles, 75, who has been on the throne for less than 18 months since the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth, has been diagnosed with the illness and has put his public engagements on hold to undergo treatment.
Charles smiled and waved to passers-by as he was driven the short distance from his home in Clarence House in central London to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday afternoon.
The palace said the king remains “completely positive” and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier said the cancer was caught early.
Harry, who has been estranged from his father and the rest of the royal family since stepping down from royal duties nearly four years ago, arrived in Britain to visit his father as messages of support for the monarch poured in from world leaders.
However, a royal source said Harry does not plan to see his older brother, heir to the throne Prince William, during his visit to Britain.
William is expected to step up to some of the duties of a monarch, along with other senior members of the royal family, while Charles begins a series of outpatient treatments.
“All our thoughts are with him and his family.” You know, luckily it was caught early,” Sunak told BBC radio, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the news.
Despite the diagnosis, Charles plans to continue much of his private work as monarch, including weekly audiences with the prime minister and handling the state papers. Sunak said he is in regular contact with the king.
“Obviously it will continue as usual and we will say goodbye to everything,” he said.
The cancer was discovered when Charles spent three nights in hospital last month undergoing corrective surgery for a benign enlarged prostate. Apart from confirming that it was not prostate cancer, the palace did not provide any further details.
The royal family usually keeps medical matters private, but the palace said Charles decided to go public because he was a patron of a number of cancer-related charities.
While the king will receive specialist care, his diagnosis will draw attention to Britain’s rising cancer waiting times for the National Health Service (NHS), which is widely seen as in crisis.
Cancer survival rates in Britain lag behind other European countries for nine of the 10 most common types of the disease, according to an NHS confederation report published in January.
Surprise diagnosis
The surprise diagnosis, which has dominated British media since the announcement, is another personal blow to Charles during his year and a half on the throne.
Earlier last year, Harry released his autobiography ‘Spare’, which contained damning revelations about his father and older brother, while Charles also had to deal with ongoing allegations against his brother Prince Andrew involving the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Harry, who left royal duties in 2020, returned to Britain from California, where he lives with his American wife Meghan and two children, to see his father after Charles told him and his other immediate family of his diagnosis.
The king’s cancer revelation comes as Kate, Princess of Wales and wife of heir William, is recovering at home after spending two weeks in hospital following scheduled abdominal surgery for an unspecified but non-cancerous condition.
She is not expected to return to public duties until after Easter and the absence of senior figures will put pressure on other working royals to carry out extraordinary commitments.
Charles has always wanted a slimmed-down monarchy, but with his younger brother Andrew and Harry no longer involved, all those currently carrying out royal engagements are over 50, apart from William and Kate, with some now in their 80s .
His sister, Princess Anne, often tops the list of busiest royals, followed by Charles.
“After the upheaval caused by the death of the late Queen and the controversies surrounding the Dukes of Sussex and York (Harry and Andrew), there were hopes for a period of calm and consolidation after the coronation,” the Daily Telegraph said in an editorial. .
“But illness cannot be predicted or avoided, not even by a person who has taken such good care of himself. We, along with the rest of the nation, wish His Majesty a speedy recovery.”
