King Charles III attends an Easter church service at Windsor Castle with Queen Camilla on Sunday, pausing to pray in his first major public appearance since announcing he has cancer last month. waved to people.
Charles, 75, continues to work while undergoing treatment, greeting visitors and meeting weekly with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. However, on the advice of his doctors, he has temporarily suspended his public activities.
The king's appearance in the familiar surroundings of St George's Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle was calculated to restore some semblance of normalcy to the royal family, which has been thrown off balance this year by multiple health crises. . Just over a week ago, Kate, Princess of Wales, announced that she too had been diagnosed with cancer.
As planned, neither Duchess Kate nor her husband Prince William attended the service with their families. She has not officially appeared in public since Christmas Day before she was hospitalized for her abdominal surgery in January. Duchess Kate said in the video that tests carried out after her surgery found evidence of cancer.
After Charles became ill, he became more visible. He is regularly photographed speaking with dignitaries such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The king, who embraces religious pluralism, met with leaders of several faiths at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
But he has stayed away from large gatherings. On Maundy Thursday, known as Maundy Thursday in the UK, Prince Charles skipped the traditional ceremony in which the monarch presents special “Maundy Money” coins to people involved in community service. Camilla performed the ceremony in the most visible manner as a stand-in.
“We need and benefit greatly from people who extend a hand of friendship, especially in times of need,” Charles said in a video recorded for the service. This was widely interpreted as an acknowledgment of the outpouring of well wishes since he and Duchess Kate announced their illness.
Buckingham Palace has indicated that Prince Charles is impatient and wants to return to a normal schedule. However, it has not been revealed what type of cancer he has, his prognosis, or treatment.
Two weeks ago, Russian social media channels were flooded with false rumors that Charles had died. After the report was picked up by several Russian news agencies, the British embassies in Moscow and the Ukrainian capital Kiev felt obliged to debunk the report, calling it “fake news”.