King Charles’s cancer ‘caught early’, says Rishi Sunak – latest updates

Stephen Bates, a former religious affairs and royal correspondent of the Guardian, has published an opinion piece about the bravery he says it took for the king to publicly reveal his cancer diagnosis, and discusses the intense scrutiny already forming around what is to come next. You can read it here:

Lisa Kerr, the principal of Gordonstoun school, in north-east Scotland, where the king went to school, spoke to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

She said:

We were all very shocked to hear the news last night, particularly having seen the king doing so well out and about after his prostate treatment.

But Kerr added that she is “hugely encouraged by his wholly positive attitude to his diagnosis and his continuing commitment to service”.

Charles was the first future monarch to be sent to school rather than being educated by private tutors.

The Press Association has spoken to well-wishers who have said their thoughts are with King Charles after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Tourists and locals outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning spoke of their sadness after hearing the news.

Lisa Nash, 61, said she wished the king – who was said to have spent the night at home – well and added that the royal family does “a lot for this country”.

She said:

My thoughts are with him and to go through something like cancer but in the public eye is pretty something, so I’m pleased that he’s given people snippets of information but I’m quite glad that he’s going to keep the rest of it private.

I think for his own peace of mind, he needs to be doing that, it’s enough of a struggle as it is but I wish him well and I’m sure he’ll pull through and things will be fine.

I love the royal family. I think they do a lot for this country and they will continue to do so, they’ll just pull together and hopefully take some of the burden off of him and he can concentrate on getting better.

Martin Harris, 43, from Northampton, said: “Obviously it’s a shame for the family more than anything. You think of the family like you would do your own family, yes it’s a shame for us but it is for them more than us really.” He added: “Also it’s good that they’ve found it early.”

Justin Haden, 52, from Canada, said the news was “sad” and he hoped the king would “make a recovery”.

A visit to Australia by King Charles is in doubt after the monarch was diagnosed with cancer.

The king was expected to tour Australia late this year accompanied by Queen Camilla. It would have been the couple’s first visit since 2018.

The Nine newspapers reported last year that King Charles was planning to visit Australia and New Zealand in October 2024.

The royal visit was to coincide with a broader trip to the region for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Samoa.

The Australian Monarchist League said on Tuesday the trip was “relatively locked-in”.

“The palace had indicated a desire to visit Australia in association with that visit to Samoa, so it was something that many of us were looking forward to,” the league’s chairman, Eric Abetz, told ABC TV.

“But now we will have to wait and see what the medical advice is as to whether the king is able to go to Chogm let alone to Australia as well.”

You can read the full story by my colleague, Emily Wind, here:

Queen Elizabeth’s former press secretary Charles Anson told BBC Breakfast that the king felt “very strongly that the condition he has and the treatment for it should be known in general terms” out of a sense of public duty, but that people should not expect “daily bulletins”. The openness about the diagnosis was a “sign of the times”, he said.

He added that “the business of the country and the constitutional role of the monarch continues without really missing a beat”, with other family members able to step in when needed.

The Prince of Wales, the Queen and other working royals will step up their royal duties while the king undergoes cancer treatment.

In the event a monarch cannot undertake their duties as sovereign on a temporary basis due to illness, two or more counsellors of state can be appointed by letters patent to act in their place.

PA Media reports:

Provisions for counsellors of state are made under the Regency Acts 1937 to 1953 and those who can currently stand in for the King include Queen Camilla and the four most senior adults in the line of succession over the age of 21 – the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of York and Princess Beatrice.

In 2022, the king asked parliament to add his youngest brother the Duke of Edinburgh and sister the Princess Royal as extra counsellors of state so they can deputise for him if need be, and the addition was fast-tracked into law.

The legislation did add Anne and Edward to the list, but stopped short of removing Andrew and Harry. However, the House of Lords heard only “working members” of the royal family would be called upon to act as counsellors of state.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, says he is “praying for the king and his family – for God’s comfort and strength in the weeks and months to come”.

The archbishop of Canterbury, who is in Ukraine to show solidarity with the country as it repels the full-scale Russian invasion, crowned King Charles in the Coronation ceremony last year.

Prince Harry due to arrive in the UK around midday after his car seen at LA airport – report

Here is a list of the things we know so far about King Charles’s cancer diagnosis:

• Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that the king had been diagnosed with cancer and is already receiving treatment that will prevent him from undertaking public duties for the immediate future.

• The type of cancer the king was diagnosed with has not been revealed but Buckingham Palace said it was not prostate cancer.

• The cancer was discovered when the 75-year-old monarch recently underwent treatment at the London Clinic for a benign enlarged prostate.

• The king returned to London from Sandringham on Monday morning to begin treatment as an outpatient.

• Buckingham Palace said the king “remains wholly positive about his treatment”.

• He began regular outpatient treatments on Monday, and although he has been forced to postpone public-facing engagements, he will continue with his constitutional role as head of state, including paperwork, his red boxes and private meetings.

• The king personally informed both his sons, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, of his diagnosis, as well as his three siblings, the Princess Royal, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of York.

• Prince Harry had spoken with his father about his cancer diagnosis and would be travelling to the UK to see him in the coming days, the Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed.

• The king was last seen in public at Sandringham in Norfolk on Sunday, where he attended a church service with the queen, which was the first time he had been seen since he was discharged from the London Clinic.

• The Palace has called for the king’s privacy to be respected, especially during his treatment, but said he wanted to make his diagnosis public because of his long-running support for cancer charities.

Prince William ‘expected to cover’ some of the King’s duties

Rishi Sunak says he is thankful that King Charles’s cancer was ‘caught early’

Joe Biden among world leaders to wish King Charles a speedy recovery after cancer diagnosis