King Charles returns to public duties for first time since cancer diagnosis

King Charles III has officially returned to royal duties for the first time since his cancer diagnosis and was announced as the new patron of Cancer Research UK.

The monarch arrived at the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London on Tuesday alongside his wife in what was his first public outing since doctors told him to avoid public-facing duties while undergoing cancer treatment.

He takes over the patronage of Cancer Research UK from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

It is hoped the King’s visit will highlight the importance of early cancer diagnosis, as well as the innovative new treatments and research being worked on at the hospital supported by Cancer Research UK.

It was set to be a poignant engagement given his cancer battle as well as that of his daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales.

The King will meet staff, patients receiving chemotherapy and their families.

He will also meet the team behind a project called TRACERx, a huge investment in lung cancer research by Cancer Research UK which aims to explore how lung cancer changes over time and why treatments sometimes stop working.

On Friday, the palace announced that the King was “greatly encouraged” to be given the green light by doctors to return to some public-facing duties.

The King’s health crisis became public in January when it was announced that he was going into a private hospital for surgery on an enlarged prostate.

He remained in The London Clinic in Marylebone for three days.

At the time it thought that the condition was not cancerous, but the following month it was revealed that subsequent tests had discovered the presence of the disease elsewhere in his body.

Buckingham Palace has not revealed the nature of the cancer or what treatment the King is receiving to deal with it.