King Charles briefly hospitalized for cancer treatment side effect

LONDON — King Charles III suffered from a side effect of his cancer treatment, which necessitated a brief hospital stay.

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The 76-year-old sovereign was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February 2024, less than 18 months after becoming the king upon the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

He had stepped away from public engagements for three months after the diagnosis to receive treatment, but at the time continued his state duties, including reviewing documents and meeting with the prime minister.

Despite his cancer treatment, he has been keeping up with a full schedule, recently traveling to Northern Ireland, launching a playlist of his favorite music and attending the Commonwealth Day service.

He also hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month and visited the H.M.S. Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.

On Thursday, however, King Charles had a “short period of observation in hospital” which forced the cancellation of meetings with three ambassadors.

Charles did do some work Thursday evening and had dinner with his wife, Queen Camilla.

The queen had attended a reception in Wembley earlier in the day and was not at the hospital with her husband.

The king’s schedule was also cleared of appointments on Friday.

He had planned to tour Birmingham and three other events there on Friday, but doctors advised against that.

“He very much hopes that they can be rescheduled in due course and offers his deepest apologies to all those who had worked so hard to make the planned visit possible,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Charles was seen leaving Clarence House, his residence, on Friday morning, the first time he had been seen by the public since his hospitalization.

He is expected to have a full schedule next week.

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