Queen Camilla has broken her silence on King Charles’ cancer battle by saying he is “doing extremely well, under circumstances”.
The monarch, 76, who was crowned alongside her husband, 75, in May 2023, made the remark as she arrived for a ceremony at Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday evening, three days after it was announced Charles was fighting an undisclosed form of cancer – following his operation to correct an enlarged prostate.
Appearing to be in good spirits as she arrived at the event, she told Ben Abbott, 40, who is a critical care paramedic with the Wiltshire Air Ambulance: “He’s doing extremely well, under circumstances.
“We are very touched by all of the letters and messages.”
Camilla was at a musical evening being hosted to highlight the work of local charities including The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, The Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Community First – Youth Action Wiltshire and the regimental charities of The Grenadier Guards and The Rifles.
The concert featured award-winning concert pianist Rupert Egerton-Smith, who will perform alongside The Band of The Grenadier Guards and The Band and Bugles of The Rifles.
It was the Queen’s her first public engagement since news of His Majesty's cancer broke on Monday.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed the king has started treatment for his illness.
Camilla was seen with the King on Tuesday for the first time since his cancer diagnosis was made public, taking a helicopter to Sandringham after meeting Prince Harry, 39, who travelled from his home in the US for a day and had a 30-minute meeting with his ill dad.
Camilla’s appearance at the cathedral comes a day after Prince William, 41, continued with his royal duties on Wednesday night when he attended the event for the London Air Ambulance Charity.
The Prince of Wales – whose wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, 42, is recovering from abdominal surgery she had last month at the same clinic in London as Charles underwent his prostate procedure – told guests at London’s Raffles Hotel: “Thank you for being here. And thank you to all those whose hard work has made this evening possible.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all.”
William also made light of his dad and wife’s health woes by saying: “It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all.”
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