Cancer-stricken King Charles was seen waving to cheering royal fans from the back of his car on The Mall today.
Buckingham Palace announced last month that the 75-year-old monarch had been diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer, which had been picked up after doctors treated an enlarged prostate.
Footage today shows the public shouting and waving at the King as he sat in the back seat of the vehicle surrounded by security. The monarch can then be seen smiling and waving to the crowd as the car drives along the Mall.
Charles’s brief appearance today follows his vow to the Commonwealth this week to ‘continue to serve you, to the best of my ability’ as he continues his treatment.
It comes as the Royal Family grapples with the fallout from the Princess of Wales’s Mother’s Day photoshop blunder, which saw Kate take the blame for a manipulated photograph released by Kensington Palace.
Kate issued a public apology for the ‘confusion’, with royal commentators suggesting the Princess ‘must feel under intense pressure now whenever she’s going to be seen in public’.
King Charles was seen waving to cheering royal fans from the back of his car
King Charles this week vowed to the Commonwealth to ‘continue to serve you, to the best of my ability’ as he continues his treatment for cancer
In a video message for Commonwealth Day that was recorded at Windsor Castle, Charles thanked people for their ‘wonderfully kind and thoughtful good wishes’ over his cancer diagnosis.
The King said: ‘In recent weeks, I have been most deeply touched by your wonderfully kind and thoughtful good wishes for my health and, in return, can only continue to serve you, to the best of my ability, throughout the Commonwealth.’ The video was played at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day.
Charles has taken a step back from public engagements, with other members of the Royal family including his strength and stay Queen Camilla stepping up to the plate.
But since the move – which saw him miss his second cousin King Constantine of Greece’s memorial service at Windsor Castle – the King has been filling his time having afternoon tea with supportive friends and gardening.
The Princess of Wales has also stepped away from the spotlight as she continues to recover from abdominal surgery.
Royal commentator Jennie Bond suggested Kate ‘must feel under intense pressure now whenever she’s going to be seen in public’ after her major surgery in January.
Also rallying round Kate today was royal expert Angela Levin who praised her for being ‘honourable’ following the photo blunder. And Whoopi Goldberg urged the public to show restraint, saying: ‘She may be the future Queen (but) she’s still an amateur photographer.’
Despite calls for the original image to be published, Kensington Palace insisted it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.
On Sunday, Kensington Palace released the first picture of the Princess of Wales since surgery
And Ms Bond cautioned against ‘bullying her into putting out all the images’, adding that the 42-year-old mother-of-three would be feeling ‘absolutely miserable’.
She said that Kate’s Mother’s Day was ‘obviously ruined by this row’ and she ‘didn’t look that happy’ when photographed in a car with William.
Ms Bond told GB News: ‘We are in danger of bullying a lady who is trying to recover from a very serious operation. I think of how she must be feeling this morning. Absolutely miserable, I think.
‘Her Mother’s Day was obviously ruined by this row. She was photographed yesterday in the car with William. From what we can see, she didn’t look that happy, she must feel under intense pressure now whenever she’s going to be seen in public.
‘The pressure has doubled and redoubled. I think she’s in a fragile mental and physical state. And we should lay off her.’