by Mick the Ram

Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday 27 March that King Charles III had spent a short period of time in hospital after experiencing some temporary side effects to his on-going cancer treatment.

His visit to the London Clinic – the same medical facility where he was treated for an enlarged prostate in January 2024 – was described as a “most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction.”

Officials released a statement on His Majesty’s behalf: “The King was due to receive credentials from the ambassadors of three different nations this afternoon, but experienced temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital, so his engagements were postponed, and tomorrow’s engagements will be rescheduled.”

The Palace did not specify the nature of the side effects, which are believed to not be uncommon,  but did add: “His Majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.”

Afterwards Charles returned to his home in Clarence House, which is his London residence, where he was in consultation with his staff and medical team, but is known to have returned to work almost immediately, working on state papers and making calls from his study.

Queen Camilla did not join the King during his brief stay at hospital, instead she attended a reception in Wembley, north London.

The slight scare caused the 76-year-old monarch to cancel a planned tour of Birmingham on Friday 28 March. He was due to travel to the country’s second largest city, for a busy schedule of engagements, which included four public events and was said to be “greatly disappointed to be missing them on this occasion”, whilst offering his “deepest apologies to all those who had worked so hard to make the planned visit possible.”

It comes after the King and Queen postponed their state visit to the Vatican earlier in the week following Pope Francis’ recent illness. The wider state visit to Italy is however, set to continue in April with some alterations to the planned programme.

After his initial diagnosis in February 2024, Buckingham Palace said they would not be sharing what type of cancer King Charles has, other than to clarify that it was NOT prostate cancer. He was able to return to public duties in the April, after a period of treatment and recuperation.

Since the turn of the year there have not been any updates on the King’s condition, although on a recent outing in Northern Ireland, he did speak at length with some cancer patients, where he asked those who were undergoing treatment if they were managing to “survive the side effects alright,” remarking: “You just have to push on, don’t you.”