King ‘reduced to tears’ after public support
THE King has said the messages and cards he has received since his cancer diagnosis have left him in tears, as he held his first audience with the Prime Minister this year.
He told Rishi Sunak: “I’ve had so many messages and cards, you can’t believe it. They’ve reduced me to tears, most of them.”
Told by the Prime Minister that it was “wonderful to see you looking so well”, the King joked it was “all done by mirrors”.
Photographs and filmed footage of the first minute of the Buckingham Palace audience show the King appearing to be in good health, if a little croaky in voice.
The meeting is usually held entirely in private, but the King and his aides are mindful of the public’s interest in his health as he is treated for cancer.
As Mr Sunak was introduced into the room, he said: “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”
“Bit of a gap, I’m afraid,” the King tells him, referring to the enforced break he has taken over Christmas and after a period of ill health.
“A bit but wonderful to see you looking so well,” replied Mr Sunak.
The King told him: “It’s all done by mirrors.”
Shaking hands and walking to sit down, Mr Sunak said: “Well, we’re all behind you, the country’s behind you.”
Addressing the King’s illness, the Prime Minister adds: “It’s also nice to see the spotlight that it’s shone on the work that charities do in this area.”
The King replied: “I hear there’s been a lot more potential interest in those main wonderful cancer charities, many of which I’ve been patron of for years.”
Mr Sunak added that “they do incredible work up and down the country”, with the King nodding: “They do.”
The Prime Minister was introduced into the Private Audience Room by Lt-cmdr Will Thornton of the Fleet Air Arm, who is the King’s new equerry. It is his first engagement in the role after replacing Lt Col Johnny Thompson, who became known on social media as the “hot equerry” during his service and has moved to what is described as a more executive and less public-facing role of senior equerry.
The last in-person audience for the King and Mr Sunak was on Dec 13 at Buckingham Palace.