Prince Harry arrives in London after his father, King Charles III, is diagnosed with cancer
King Charles III’s cancer was caught early and he will “crack on” with his constitutional duties, Britain’s prime minister said Tuesday, as Prince Harry flew in from California for a rare visit with his father.
Royal officials announced Monday that the 75-year-old king has been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and is receiving treatment as an outpatient.
Less than 18 months into a reign he’d famously waited decades to begin, Charles suspended public engagements but will continue with state business — including weekly meetings with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — and won’t be handing over his constitutional roles as head of state.
On Tuesday afternoon, Harry could seen arriving at the king’s Clarence House residence, near Buckingham Palace, in a black SUV after an overnight flight.
The two have a troubled relationship, and Harry has seen his father infrequently since the prince quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Meghan, citing what they said was the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.
Harry has since detailed his rocky relationship with his family and his royal inheritance in TV interviews, a documentary and a memoir, “Spare.”
About an hour after Harry arrived, Charles and Queen Camilla were driven from their residence to nearby Buckingham Palace in a royal Bentley. The couple waved to tourists and well-wishers gathered outside the palace gates. A helicopter believed to be carrying the royal couple took off from the palace soon after.
Buckingham Palace said the cancer was found during Charles’ recent hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate but is a “separate issue” and not prostate cancer.
“Thankfully, this has been caught early,” Sunak told BBC radio.
“We’ll crack on with everything,” Sunak said, adding that he would continue to communicate with the king normally.
“Many families around the country listening to this will have been touched by the same thing and they know what it means to everyone,” Sunak said. “So we’ll just be willing him on and hopefully we get through this as quickly as possible.”
The palace said Charles, who has generally enjoyed good health, “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”
Charles became king in September 2022 when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.
News of the king’s diagnosis comes as his daughter-in-law Kate, Princess of Wales, recovers from abdominal surgery that saw her hospitalized for about two weeks.
Kate is taking a break from royal duties as she recovers. Her husband, Prince William, who is heir to the throne, also took time off to help look after her and the couple’s three children, but is due to preside over a ceremony at Windsor Castle and a charity dinner on Wednesday.
Charles departed from royal tradition with his openness about his prostate condition. For centuries the royal family was tight-lipped about health matters.
Disclosing information about his cancer diagnosis — albeit in a limited way — is another break with tradition.
When U.K. monarchs had real power, news of illness was withheld for fear it might weaken their authority. The habit of secrecy lingered after royals became constitutional figureheads.
The British public wasn’t told that Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, had lung cancer before his death in February 1952 at the age of 56, and some historians have claimed that the king himself wasn’t told he was terminally ill.
In the final years of Elizabeth’s life, the public was told only that she was suffering from “mobility issues” when she began to miss public appearances towards the end of her life. The cause of her death was listed on the death certificate simply as “old age.”