UK’s King Charles Attends Church In First Public Outing Since Cancer Diagnosis Announced

New Delhi: Britain’s King Charles, clad in a brown overcoat and carrying an umbrella, attended church on Sunday in his first public outing since announcing last week he had been diagnosed with cancer.

The 75-year-old king waved and greeted well-wishers as he arrived with his wife, Camilla, at St Mary Magdalene church in Sandringham in eastern England, reported Reuters.

Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that Charles had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer and would postpone some engagements to undergo treatment.

He has reigned for less than 18 months following the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.

Charles expressed gratitude to those offering support following his diagnosis and affirmed his intention to continue with his private royal duties, such as his weekly audience with the prime minister and handling state papers, while receiving treatment, as per the Reuters report.

The cancer was detected during Charles’s recent hospitalization for a corrective procedure related to a benign enlarged prostate. Palace statements have clarified that it is not prostate cancer, though additional specifics have not been provided.

In his first public statement after being diagnosed with cancer, King Charles said,” I would like to express my most heartfelt thanks for the many messages of support and good wishes I have received in recent days,” Reuters reported.

Charles said, “As all those who have been affected by cancer will know, such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement.

Charles expressed that it was heartening to learn how his diagnosis had contributed to raising awareness about the organisations that offer support to cancer patients in Britain and elsewhere. The cancer diagnosis news came in after the King spent three nights in a hospital last month, to undergo a corrective procedure for a benign enlarged prostate, Reuters reported.

Queen Camilla, King Charles’s wife, said on Thursday that he was doing “extremely well.” She also said that Charles was “very touched by all the letters and messages the public have been sending from everywhere,” BBC News reported.

As he undergoes treatment and Prince William’s wife, Kate, recuperates from abdominal surgery, there is a heightened responsibility on the remaining royals, particularly William and Camilla, to represent the monarchy publicly.