Prince Harry flew to London after the news of his father, King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis announcement. On Wednesday, King Charles made his first public appearance after the announcement.
He was seen smiling and waving at onlookers as he ventured out. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla and was driven from his Clarence House residence in central London to Buckingham Palace, where they then boarded a helicopter bound for his Sandringham estate in rural eastern England for his recovery.
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Coinciding with the king’s departure, Prince Harry, his estranged younger son, flew to Britain to visit him. Harry, who distanced himself from the royal family nearly four years ago, briefly reunited with his father at Clarence House, as per Reuters. However, there were no reported plans for Harry to meet his elder brother, Prince William, during his visit, as per Reuters.
Buckingham Palace on Tuesday announced that the 75-year-old monarch, who ascended the throne less than 18 months ago following Queen Elizabeth’s passing, would temporarily step back from public engagements to undergo treatment for the illness.
With King Charles undergoing outpatient treatments, Prince William is expected to step up to fulfil some of the monarch’s duties, along with other senior royals while Charles begins a series of out-patient treatments, reported Reuters.
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Despite the diagnosis, the palace maintains that the king remains “wholly positive”.
Despite the diagnosis, Charles is planning to continue with much of his private work as monarch including his weekly audience with the prime minister and dealing with state papers. Sunak said he was in regular contact with the king.
“That will of course continue as normal and we’ll crack on with everything,” Sunak was quoted by Reuters as saying.
While the royal family generally keeps medical matters private, the palace said that Charles had chosen to share the news of his Cancer diagnosis as he is a patron of several cancer-related charities.