King Charles has been forced to cancel royal engagements due to side effects from his cancer treatments, it has been announced. The Palace has given a major update on the monarch’s upcoming trip to Italy
Buckingham Palace have given a major update on King Charles and Queen Camilla’s upcoming trip overseas after the monarch was temporarily hospitalised this morning.
Charles was forced to clear his diary today after suffering side effects to his cancer treatment, it has been revealed. The King has been undergoing weekly treatment for the disease since being diagnosed in February. A Palace aide has assured royal watchers that the King’s short hospital visit was a “minor bump in the road” while insisting that his cancer treatment was still “very much headed in the right direction”. Charles was admitted to the The London Clinic in Marylebone, the same hospital he was treated in last January for a prostate condition. His daughter-in-law, Princess Kate, has also stayed in the same hospital previously.
READ MORE: King Charles’ six-word message to cancer patients days before cancelling engagements
The Palace also issued an update on Charles’ upcoming state visit to Italy, which is scheduled to start in just 10 days’ time. It said it envisaged the King and Queen’s planned overseas trip, commencing on April 7, would still go ahead as planned. The monarch is at home in Clarence House this evening, where he “is in good form”, and is continuing to work on State papers and make calls from his study.
A statement from Buckingham Palace tonight said: “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.
“His Majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’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.
“His Majesty was due to receive Credentials from the Ambassadors of three different nations this afternoon. Tomorrow, he was due to undertake four public engagements in Birmingham and is greatly disappointed to be missing them on this occasion. He very much hopes that they can be rescheduled in due course and offers his deepest apologies to all those who had worked so hard to make the planned visit possible.”
Earlier this week, the Palace announced that the King and Queen’s state visit to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis next month has been postponed. As part of the couple’s visit to Italy, a meeting with the pontiff, who has been suffering ill health, had been on the cards. However, it has now been postponed by mutual agreement so Francis can continue his recovery from double pneuomia. A statement from Buckingham Palace said: “The King and Queen’s State Visit to The Holy See has been postponed by mutual agreement, as medical advice has now suggested that Pope Francis would benefit from an extended period of rest and recuperation.
During his previous stay at the London Clinic while undergoing procedure for an enlarged prostate, King Charles was seen visiting his daughter-in-law, Princess Kate, while she was recovering from major abdominal surgery in the same hospital. Royal sources said at the time that Charles and Camilla were keen to see how Kate was doing after she was admitted to hospital for planned surgery. Charles was said to have been seen “toddling” from his hospital bed to spend time with Kate, at a time before they were both diagnosed with cancer.
The monarch’s temporary hospitalisation comes just days after he visited the Pharmacy and Pharmacology department at Ulster University Coleraine campus in Northern Ireland, where shared advice on living with the disease. Earlier this month, the monarch told fellow cancer patients on the visit: “You just have to push on, don’t you.” And speaking to another cancer survivor, he said: “What’s that Winston Churchill saying? Keep buggering on!”
The King returned to full time duties last April but still maintained a reduced schedule in accordance with his weekly treatment at a London hospital. Since then he has embarked on a major tour with the Queen in October to Australia and Samoa and continued his public duties at pace this year.