Public show of strength cheers King Charles
THE King smiled and waved at members of the public as he arrived for the Easter Day service at Windsor Castle, in his most significant public appearance since he was diagnosed with cancer.
Charles, 75, joined the Queen and other members of the royal family for the annual Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel yesterday.
The Princess of Wales and her family were not at the service.
Charles arrived by car at St George’s Chapel alongside the Queen, who was wearing a green coat dress by Anna Valentine and a hat by Philip Treacy.
Anne Daley, 65, from Cardiff, held up a Welsh flag when the King arrived. She told the PA news agency: “Did you see the smile [Charles] gave me? He pointed at my flag.”
Ms Daley added: “He had a lovely smile. He looked well. I think he was happy that we’ve all come.”
The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, all arrived at the chapel a few moments before the King and Queen.
It comes just over a week after Kate released an emotional video message disclosing that she had started a course of preventative chemotherapy. She, the Prince of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who all attended the service last year, are absent.
The family are spending the Easter holidays together as they adjust to Kate’s diagnosis, which was discovered in post-operative tests after major abdominal surgery.
The King’s attendance at church will be seen as a move to reassure the public after the shock news about his daughter-in-law.
But the service is a smaller version of the annual gathering, with fewer members of the royal family, as the King has paused public-facing duties while he continues treatment for cancer himself.
He was described by the Palace as being “so proud” of the princess for her courage in speaking out, and is said to be in “the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law”.
The King’s own treatment for cancer was announced at the start of February, but he has been carrying out low-key official duties behind palace walls.
Ahead of Easter, the King reaffirmed his coronation pledge “not to be served, but to serve” with “my whole heart” in an audio address broadcasted to a congregation at Worcester Cathedral where the Royal Maundy Service was held in his absence on Thursday.