King Charles recently resumed his public duties after a brief hospitalization due to side effects of cancer treatment, which had forced him to cancel a scheduled engagement last Friday.
During an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle this morning, Charles honored notable individuals and community leaders, including his friend Alan Titchmarsh.
The King seemed in high spirits as he made the TV gardener a CBE for services to horticulture and charity.
Photographs show him in high spirits, greeting and congratulating awardees, and even knighting Royal Ballet choreographer Professor Sir Wayne McGregor with a ceremonial sword.
Other recipients on Tuesday included world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, made an MBE for services to athletics, and Matthew Magee, the King’s deputy private secretary, who was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.
Charles was pictured smiling and waving as he left his Clarence House home in London last Friday where he spent the night with Queen Camilla following the ‘minor bump’ in his cancer journey.
The King cancelled a busy away-day in Birmingham that same day to prioritise his recovery, after experiencing temporary side effects following treatment at the London Clinic on Thursday morning, which required a short period of hospital observation that day.
He spent the weekend at his Gloucestershire estate Highgrove and is expected to carry out a mix of public engagements, state duties and private meetings in the coming days.
A small number of appointments have been rescheduled to ensure an appropriate balance ahead of a busy state visit the King and Queen will make to Italy next week.
On Wednesday, the King will fulfil official duties and meetings at Buckingham Palace and hold his weekly audience with the Prime Minister.
The following day he will attend a public engagement in Windsor and celebrate the 80th anniversary of the humanitarian air operator Mission Aviation Fellowship during an event at RAF Northolt in West London.
Friday will be spent making final preparations for the state visit to the Republic of Italy.
But the separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Vatican – the world’s smallest independent state – has been postponed as the Pope is recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February 2024 and returned to public-facing duties last April, despite still undergoing weekly treatment.
Sources said last week that the King’s visit to the London Clinic on Thursday had not been not a major development.
It was also described as the ‘most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction’.
His treatment will continue for the foreseeable future, it is understood.Â
Buckingham Palace said in a statement last Thursday: ‘Following scheduled and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, the King experienced temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital. His Majesty’s afternoon engagements were therefore postponed.’
The palace added: ‘His Majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s (Friday’s) diary programme will also be rescheduled.
‘His Majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result’.
It is understood the overseas tour with the Queen from April 7 to 10, which will see Charles become the first British sovereign to address both houses of the Italian parliament, is expected to go ahead as planned.
Earlier this month, the King made a whirlwind three-day visit to Northern Ireland with Camilla, and earlier in March hosted high-profile audiences with key political figures including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, outgoing Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and new Canadian PM Mark Carney.
Charles, who is known for being a workaholic, is said to have thrived on carrying out public and state duties in recent months, seeing them as being of great benefit to his overall wellbeing.
His long-haul visit to Australia and Samoa last Autumn was described at the time as the ‘perfect tonic’ for the monarch.
Since his diagnosis last year, the King’s diary of engagements is understood to have been developed in full consultation with his medical team at all stages to protect and prioritise his recovery.
Sources stressed the hospital visit was not a major development and no further updates are expected on the King’s health, with any minor alterations to his diary that may be required next week being announced in due course.
