Buckingham Palace and Downing Street were keen on Wednesday to show that King Charles remains in close contact with the government despite recovering from his first round of cancer treatment.
No. 10 took the unusual step of confirming that Rishi Sunak would call the King in the evening after agreeing with the Palace to release information.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We do not ordinarily comment on the Prime Minister’s conversations with the King, and we do not intend to make a habit of doing so.” However, we agreed to confirm with the Palace in this particular case that we would speak by phone later. ”
There was initial confusion because weekly formal audiences with heads of state and prime minister, usually held in person, were conducted over the phone as part of the king’s constitutional duties.
However, palace officials later clarified that it was a personal appeal from the Prime Minister to pray for Prince Charles’ safety and early recovery, and was not an audience.
No audiences were scheduled for the next two weeks, partly in line with the pattern set by the late Queen Elizabeth II around this time, and partly to allow the King to recover from surgery for enlarged prostate. But there was.
Formal face-to-face audiences are expected to resume on February 21, in line with the prime minister’s overseas commitments.
The 75-year-old king underwent outpatient treatment in London on Monday and remains at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk. As he is unable to hold any official duties for the time being, Prince William, 41, the heir to the throne, will be the main member representing the monarchy in public.
Prince William hosted an investiture ceremony on Wednesday, before attending a gala dinner in the evening to raise money for London’s Air Ambulance. Greeting guests at the banquet, he said: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kate Middleton and her father for their kind messages of support, especially over the last few days. It has meant a lot to all of us. there is.
“It would be an understatement to say that the past few weeks have been more of a ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I would come to the air ambulance to get away from it all!”
William was expected to take over some duties as the King’s diary was hurriedly sorted and Kate recuperated at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. When the princess was admitted to hospital for a scheduled surgery, he said he would take time off to support her family and return to work on her once her treatment and recovery had settled down. Duchess Kate, 42, is not expected to resume her royal duties until after Easter.
The rift between Prince William and his brother, the Duke of Sussex, was highlighted again on Tuesday when Prince Harry arrived in the UK to meet his father. Suggestions that the family crisis could lead to some form of reconciliation between the brothers are unfounded after Prince Harry made very personal attacks on his family in TV interviews and in his memoir Spare. Apparently not: Sources close to Prince William say there are no plans for the two to reconcile. They meet Harry while he is in England.
Prince Harry was spotted at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday on his way back to Los Angeles, about 24 hours after flying in to meet his father.
Prince William is believed to have made it clear that his priority is to support his wife and children during their difficult times and that he will not put a time scale on that. His role as Prince of Wales, which he took over 17 months ago, was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after Buckingham Palace announced the king’s diagnosis on Monday.
Officials have reportedly indicated that Mr. William may not be seen again for some time after Wednesday’s mission. Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace will coordinate with Kensington Palace what royal duties Prince William will assume in place of his father.
King Charles briefly reunited with Prince Harry on Tuesday after an overnight flight from Los Angeles. The couple spent about 45 minutes together at Clarence House, the king’s home in London, before the king and queen flew by helicopter to Sandringham.
It is unclear where Harry stayed during his time in the UK. The Duchess of Sussex remained in Los Angeles with her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The king has postponed all official duties, but production of the state newspaper Red Box continues behind the scenes. He was diagnosed during surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Details about what type of cancer he has have not been made public, but Buckingham Palace has confirmed it is not prostate cancer.
