King Charles attends Easter Sunday service in his first public royal event since cancer diagnosis
UK King Charles III attended Windsor Castle’s annual Easter church service Sunday, making his first public appearance since his cancer diagnosis was announced in February — while there was no sign of Princess Kate following her own cancer diagnosis.
Charles shook hands and chatted with onlookers who wished him well outside St. George’s Chapel, the resting place of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth.
“Keep going strong,” one member of the crowd shouted as Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, walked by.
The king had postponed all previous public engagements ever since Buckingham Palace announced he was to undergo treatment for an unspecified form of cancer that was found in tests after he had a corrective procedure to an enlarged prostate in February.
While the 75-year-old monarch attended church on Sunday, his son, Prince William, and his family did not, likely due to Princess Kate of Wales’ own cancer diagnosis, which she shared earlier this month.
Her shocking announcement that she, too, had cancer, was made last week following weeks of speculation about her health after major abdominal surgery earlier this year.
The royal has not shared what type of cancer she is being treated for, and has paused her public duties for the time being.
Her children also did not attend the event.
Disgraced ex-royal Prince Andrew alongside his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, were also spotted at the church service Sunday.
Prince Andrew’s attendance at the service comes after the 64-year-old royal faced blowback for leading the procession while attending a memorial for King Constantine of Greece.
Charles has kept up with the majority of his non-public state duties such as greeting foreign officials and holding regular meetings with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Last week the king did not attend an annual Maundy Thursday service but issued an audio message in which he expressed his sorrow at not being there and wished the public a happy Easter.
With Post wires
