King Charles III is ‘very good’ amid cancer treatment, won’t see Harry during prince’s U.K. visit
Two weeks after his return to the public eye, King Charles III is said to be “very good” amid his cancer battle.
British politician Penny Mordaunt, a minister in Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, said during a Tuesday appearance on GB News that the 75-year-old monarch is happy to get back to work.
The palace’s disclosure that King Charles III has cancer shattered centuries of British history and tradition, but the royal withheld details of his illness.
“He’s very good. And I know that he would have been so pleased to get back to public duties. He would have missed it tremendously,” the speaker of the House of Commons said, sharing details from her weekly meetings with Charles in her role as Privy Council Lord President.
“I think everyone is really pleased to see him back and I know that he wants to do more, so it’s been a good week,” Mourdant added. “I think people won’t be surprised to know that he’s completely charming and always calm. And he’s also got a really good sense of humor as well.
“But he’s always asking about how things are going, particularly issues that we’re dealing with in Parliament or about particular groups who he knows that are having a rough time,” she said. “He’s always asking after those people, so he cares a great deal and he’s a delight to work with.”
As his daughter-in-law Catherine was admitted for abdominal surgery in January, Charles announced that he would be having a procedure on an enlarged prostate, which resulted in a three-month break from public-facing duties so he could focus on his treatment and recuperation. In February, he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer.
Buckingham Palace announced in late April that the king would return to work amid treatment. The monarch, who just marked the one-year anniversary of his coronation, visited a cancer charity with Queen Camilla on April 30, his first day back to work, and confirmed that he had treatment scheduled for later that day.
Prince William said that his wife Catherine and their children are ‘all doing well’ months after the princess revealed that she has an undisclosed form of cancer.
On Friday, he attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show despite rain and is scheduled to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. He’s also due to host a state visit by the emperor and empress of Japan in June.
The king’s busy schedule is being cited as the reason he and Prince Harry, fourth in line to the British throne, won’t connect during his youngest son’s visit to London this week — one that comes after the fallout from Harry’s stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and the bombshell 2023 memoir “Spare.” The duke of Sussex, who primarily lives in California with his wife Meghan and two children, is back in the U.K. this week to celebrate a decade of the Invictus Games, a tournament for wounded veterans that Harry founded in 2014.
In response to speculation on whether the prince will see his father during the visit, a spokesman for Harry cited the king’s “full programme.” Harry was last in the U.K. in February to visit his father shortly after the king was diagnosed with cancer. The prince told “Good Morning America” at the time that he “jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could,” adding that he loves his family.
With the cancer diagnoses of Kate Middleton and King Charles III, the ranks of working British royals have been depleted, leaving the monarchy’s future fragile.
“The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon,” Prince Harry’s spokesman told the BBC on Tuesday.
His brother William, Prince of Wales, also won’t attend the service for the Invictus Games, which will be held Wednesday at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. GB News reported that no senior member of the Royal Family is expected to attend the event.
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