How cancer-stricken King Charles is carrying on behind the scenes since stepping back from public-facing duties
Afternoon tea and dinner with friends are just some of the activities King Charles has been participating in since stepping back from public duties.
Last month, Buckingham Palace announced that the 75-year-old monarch had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, picked up after doctors treated an enlarged prostate.
He has stepped back from public engagements, with other members of the royal family, including his power and Queen Camilla, stepping up to the plate.
But since the move – which saw him miss his great-nephew King Constantine of Greece’s memorial service at Windsor Castle – the king has filled his time with afternoon tea with supportive friends and gardening.
On Monday, King Charles invited two close friends — a married couple — to dinner at Windsor Castle before leaving the next morning to attend his medical appointments, the Times reported.
He made plans with friends he could count on to give him comfort, while Camilla holds down the fort and also takes some well-deserved time off.
Since his diagnosis, Charles, 75, has let other working members of the Firm, such as his wife, Queen Camilla, take charge of royal duties while he continues treatment.
A palace insider said the royal family’s schedule is filled with lavish, delicious afternoon teas and dinners with friends
The source told the newspaper: ‘Despite the diagnosis and treatments, he continues to do what he can, but of course he has to do so with a schedule in which everything is adjusted very slightly.
“What’s amazing about this hiatus is how little has changed rather than how much has changed.”
Charles has been traveling between his retreat at Sandringham in Norfolk and London for cancer treatment, a journey of around 100 miles.
When at the royal residence, which is often visited by the extended family at Christmas, the king often drives around his estate and watches the process of creating a health-inspired botanical garden at the front of the great house.
King Charles is an environmentalist who loves nature and has been talking about climate change from an early age.
At just 21 years old, the then Prince of Wales warned the public about plastic waste and chemicals dumped into rivers and seas and the problems they cause.
While the royal family is having dinner with friends, he recently lost a dear friend who lived at his Highgrove Estate, Ian Farquhar.
The famous hunter was also the Queen Mother’s equerry and even served in the Queen’s Own Hussars, a cavalry regiment of the British Army.
Mr Farquhar was also close to Queen Camilla and lived on the king’s estate in a rented farmhouse for many years. It is said he died there on Wednesday morning.
Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla’s first husband and friend, told The Mail’s Richard Eden that the situation was “very sad” and that he had been in poor health in recent months.
He described his friend as “wild as a hawk in his youth, but always a lot of fun.” Parker Bowles added that ‘The Captain’, as Farquhar was known, ‘will be judged by history as one of the great Master of Hounds’.
One source said he often trekked through the fields to meet the monarch for dinner, but left his car “when it got hopelessly stuck” and instead waited for it to be rescued by tractors.
The King himself often drives around Sandringham and watches the progress of a health-inspired botanical garden at the front of the great house. Above: The Prince of Wales plants a tree in 2021
King Charles met with the High Commissioner of Jamaica, Alexander Williams, who was accompanied by his wife Carol Watson-Williams at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
The king has postponed all public engagements as he continues his treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, but has been conducting audience and office duties behind the palace walls.
High commissioners and ambassadors in London have a customary audience with the monarch shortly after taking up their roles.
Charles’ meeting came after he held a video call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The king previously met with the Ambassador of Algeria, Nourredine Yazid, and Samba Mamadou, Ambassador of Mauritania.
The king was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer earlier this year after hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate, which was unrelated to him.
He was treated at the same hospital as the Princess of Wales, who underwent abdominal surgery for an unknown condition in January.