King Charles III visited a cancer treatment center in London on Tuesday, his first official public engagement since announcing three months ago that he himself was suffering from the disease. The 75-year-old king, relaxed and smiling, was accompanied by Queen Camilla, 76, for this symbolic and highly scrutinized visit, during which he was to meet patients and doctors at the Macmillan Center at University College Hospital. Arriving by car, he shook hands before entering the building.
“Carefully calibrated”
Charles III is still undergoing treatment for his cancer, discovered after a prostate operation in January, the nature of which has never been clarified. But Buckingham Palace, cautiously optimistic, announced last Friday that its doctors were “sufficiently satisfied with the progress made so far” to allow him a gradual resumption of his public activities, adapted to his state of health. His commitments will be “carefully calibrated” in “close consultation with his doctors,” Buckingham Palace said.
The King and Queen are also due to receive Emperor Naruhito of Japan and his wife Empress Masako in June on an unspecified date for a state visit at the invitation of the British government. Other possible commitments – Royal Ascot, 80th anniversary of D-Day, Trooping the Color in June, traditional garden parties – will be subject to the advice of his doctors, closer to their date.
After the announcement of his cancer in early February, nine months after his coronation, Charles III suspended his public activities. But he continued his duties as constitutional monarch at Buckingham Palace. They provide in particular that he signs laws, meets regularly with the Prime Minister and validates certain appointments. The palace regularly released photos or very short videos of him receiving VIPs, preparing a speech, or reading get-well cards. Impatient to resume, according to his nephew Peter Phillips, Charles III treated himself to a brief walkabout after matins at the chapel of Windsor Castle on Easter Sunday.