King hopeful cancer won’t stop his trip to Australia

As he begins treatment, His Majesty is optimistic he and Queen will carry out state visit in autumn

THE King is “hopeful” that his state visit to Australia in the autumn will go ahead despite his cancer diagnosis last week.

He was expected to visit the country with the Queen as part of a long-haul trip in late October, but his sudden diagnosis and ongoing treatment have thrown the plans into doubt.

However, a Palace source told The Telegraph that the monarch still hopes to keep the visit, which was scheduled around the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa and confirmed by Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, in early January.

The source said: “We [will] continue planning but we’re not at any stage to confirm timing or dates because it’s the first week of the King’s treatment.

“It certainly remains the case that he’s hopeful it will go ahead.”

It is understood that before the King’s diagnosis planning for the overseas trip had been at an early stage, but Mr Albanese revealed the King’s intention to visit at the beginning of the year.

A government spokesman told newspaper The Australian: “The Prime Minister enjoys a warm relationship with the King, and looks forward to welcoming His Majesty to Australia later this year”.

The long-awaited visit will mark the King’s first trip to the country since his accession and the first by a ruling monarch since Elizabeth II in October 2011.

The Palace source said: “Albanese confirmed there was a state visit in the pipeline,” adding that “planning for future state visits continues, making allowance for changed circumstances”.

Meanwhile, the monarch has had to postpone all his public duties at home as he undergoes treatment for an unspecified cancer which was discovered by his medical team following a corrective treatment for an enlarged prostate. He will be avoiding public engagements to protect his health and will be spending most of his time recovering at Sandringham or Highgrove.

He is also expected to return to London more or less weekly, in order to hold his audience with the Prime Minister and to receive further treatment and medical advice.

On Sunday the King was seen in public for the first time since he began regular treatments one week ago. He was pictured walking to church at Sandringham with the Queen while smiling and waving to well-wishers.

He was previously only photographed last week through the large windows of the state Bentley after he shared a brief visit with the Duke of Sussex in Clarence House.

The King’s overseas visits – for the time being – are left up in the air following the diagnosis, including an expected visit to Canada in the spring and one to New Zealand around the CHOGM.

The tours would mark the monarch’s first visits to Commonwealth realms

‘It’s the first week of the King’s treatment. It remains the case that he’s hopeful it will go ahead’

since he ascended the throne and are considered critical in terms of shoring up support in a time of growing republicanism.

The timing is crucial, with several indicating that they want to sever ties with the British Royal family and remove the King as head of state.

In Australia, for example, the prime minister confirmed last year that his desire for a referendum remained undimmed. “I want to see an Australian as Australia’s head of state,” he said.

The King’s first overseas tours after ascending the throne were to France and Germany respectively, then to Kenya, a member of the Commonwealth but not a realm.

He is said to have been keen to appear at the CHOGM in Samoa, which starts on Oct 21, but the trip now hinges on whether he will feel up to it.