Buckingham Palace and Downing Street are keen to demonstrate that King Charles is continuing to carry out his core constitutional duties as much as possible while having cancer treatment, as the Prince of Wales resumed royal duties by hosting an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
No 10 took the unusual step of confirming details of Rishi Sunak’s audience with the king after an agreement with Buckingham Palace to disclose the information.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We don’t in general and we are not going to get into the habit of commenting on the PM’s conversations with the king. But we have agreed with the palace in this specific instance to confirm that they will be speaking on the phone later.”
The king, 75, is at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk having received outpatient treatment in London on Monday. Since he is unable to undertake public-facing duties for the foreseeable future, Prince William, 41, the heir to the throne, becomes the leading member representing the monarchy in public.
William hosted the investiture ceremony before a fundraising gala dinner for London air ambulance scheduled for Wednesday evening, and told one recipient he appreciated his well wishes for the king and the Princess of Wales, who is recuperating after abdominal surgery.
David Shreeve, who co-founded the Conservation Foundation charity with the TV botanist David Bellamy, and who was made an MBE for services to the environment, said: “I did say to him at the end that I wished both his wife and his dad good luck. He said he appreciated it.”
William is expected to take over some engagements as the king’s diary is hastily rearranged and as Catherine recovers at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. He had said at the time the princess was admitted for the planned surgery that he would take time off to support his family and only return to work once her care and recovery had settled. Catherine, 42, is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.
The rift between William and his brother, the Duke of Sussex, was highlighted once more with Harry’s arrival in the UK on Tuesday to see their father. Suggestions that the family crisis could lead to some form of reconciliation between the siblings, after Harry’s highly personal attacks on his family in TV interviews and his memoir Spare, would seem unfounded: sources close to William have said there are no plans in the diary for the two to meet while Harry is in the UK.
Harry was seen at Heathrow airport on Wednesday on his way back to Los Angeles around 24 hours after he flew in to see his father.
William is understood to have made clear that his priority is to support his wife and children at their own difficult time, with no timescale being put on that. His role as Prince of Wales, which he inherited 17 months ago, has suddenly been thrown into sharp focus after Buckingham Palace’s announcement on Monday of the king’s diagnosis.
Sources have reportedly indicated that after Wednesday’s duties, William may not be seen again for some time. Buckingham Palace, meanwhile, will be liaising with Kensington Palace over which of the king’s engagements William might undertake on his father’s behalf.
The king was briefly reunited with Harry on Tuesday after the duke took an overnight flight from Los Angeles. They spent about 45 minutes together at the king and queen’s London residence, Clarence House, before the king and queen flew by helicopter to Sandringham.
It is not known where Harry stayed while in the UK. The Duchess of Sussex remained in LA with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The king has postponed all public-facing duties but is continuing with behind-the-scenes work on his red boxes of state papers. He received his diagnosis while undergoing a procedure for benign prostate enlargement. Details of what form of cancer he has been diagnosed with have not been made public, but Buckingham Palace has confirmed it is not prostate cancer.
