Palace issues major King Charles update after hospital stay as Italy tour looms (2025)

It is understood that King Charles is preparing for his usual working week including a series of public engagements - just days after a short hospital stay after suffering side effects from his cancer treatment

King Charles is preparing for his usual working week just days after having to cancel engagements following a short stay in hospital due to side effects from his cancer treatment. Charles cancelled a busy away day to Birmingham on Friday to prioritise his recovery after experiencing "temporary side effects", which was described as a "bump in the road".

After a restful weekend at Highgrove, the King has headed to Windsor Castle to start his working week, which includes a mix of public engagements, state duties and private meetings. One or two additional appointments for this week have been rescheduled to ensure an appropriate balance ahead of a busy programme during the state visit to Italy next week, it is understood.

Charles, 76, has been receiving weekly cancer treatment in hospital since his diagnosis last February. He was admitted for observation at The London Clinic for several hours on Thursday but returned home to Clarence House later that day. On Friday, he headed to his Highgrove home to rest ahead with the week ahead set to include a number of engagements, including investitures at Windsor Castle. Friends of the King have described Highgrove as being "a place of great comfort" for Charles during his cancer battle.

The King was last seen on Friday morning being driven away from Clarence House to head to Highgrove and he waved to wellwishers next to his London home as he left.

Buckingham Palace has attempted to calm nerves surrounding the King’s admission to hospital, with royal sources describing it as "a bump in the road" and insisted Charles' treatment was still "very much headed in the right direction". It is understood the overseas tour with the Queen from April 7-10, which will see Charles become the first British sovereign to address both houses of the Italian parliament, is expected to go ahead as planned.

The trip has already had to be reorganised after the royals were due to meet the Pope at The Vatican as part of the tour. Pope Francis was last week discharged from hospital after suffering from double pneumonia and will require a period of rest and recuperation.

On Saturday, while recuperating after his trip to hospital, the King sent a message addressed to "the people of Myanmar" following a deadly earthquake in the country. In his message posted on social media, Charles spoke of his and the Queen’s shock and sadness after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar at midday local time on Friday, claiming more than 1,000 lives and injuring 2,376 people, according to the country’s military-led government.

Charles said: "My wife and I were most dreadfully shocked and saddened to learn of the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, with its tragic loss of life and appalling damage to homes, buildings and livelihoods, not to mention the destruction of sacred pagodas, monasteries and other places of worship. I know that the people of Myanmar continue to endure so much hardship and tragedy in your lives, and I have long admired your extraordinary resilience and spirit."

Meanwhile, yesterday US president Donald Trump sent the King his "best wishes" in a phone call with Prme Minister Keir Starmer, Downing Street said. Opening the conversation on Sunday evening, which covered the war in Ukraine and a trade deal between the UK and the US, the president wished Charles "good health", a Downing Street spokesperson said.

At the end of February, the King invited Trump to make a second state visit to the UK in an unprecedented gesture towards a US leader after he was hosted by the late Queen during a state visit in 2019.