Topline
King Charles III will make his return “shortly” to public duties, the British Royal Family announced Friday, just over two months after the king was diagnosed with cancer.
Key Facts
Charles, 75, will make a joint appearance with Queen Camilla at a cancer treatment facility Tuesday, the Royal Family announced, marking his “first in a number of external engagements His Majesty will undertake in the weeks ahead.”
The announcement comes two months after Charles announced his diagnosis with a “form of cancer,” following a brief hospital stay for a prostate procedure.
Charles’ cancer had reportedly been “caught early,” U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in February, telling BBC Radio 5 he was “shocked and sad” to hear about the diagnosis.
Charles was able to make his first public appearance since his diagnosis late last month, attending an Easter service with Camilla at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Tangent
Charles’ cancer diagnosis was the second to rock the Royal Family this year. Last month, Charles’ daughter-in-law Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, confirmed she was receiving cancer treatment, saying she received surgery that “was successful.” Like Charles, she did not specify what type of cancer she was diagnosed with. Her confirmation ended weeks of speculation over her absence from the public eye and a bizarre doctored photo with her children, prompting unsubstantiated rumors about her health and personal life. Kate, the wife of Prince William, had been admitted to a hospital in January for a “planned abdominal procedure.”
Key Background
King Charles was formally coronated last May in an extravagant ceremony in London, with the pomp and circumstance of the event featuring a 360-year-old St. Edward’s Crown of 22-carat gold and nearly 450 precious and semiprecious stones, as well as performances by Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Andrea Bocelli. The coronation marked the first transfer of the British throne since Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953—Elizabeth died at the age of 96 in September 2022, ending her reign as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Charles had been next-in-line for the throne for a record 70 years, by far the longest heir-apparent in Buckingham Palace history, starting when Charles was just three years old.
