King Charles III has made his most significant outing since his cancer diagnosis last month, attending the traditional Easter Mattins church service in Windsor on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Charles, 75, appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived by car to St. George\u2019s Chapel, a 14th-century building on the grounds of Windsor Castle, around an hour\u2019s drive from London. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, for the event \u2013 a staple in the royal calendar. <\/p>\n
Typically, the extended royal family gathers for Easter at Windsor Castle before heading to church together. Their arrivals are usually watched by staff living at Windsor, either from a nearby grassy bank or from their doorsteps. <\/p>\n
The royal couple waved delightedly to a crowd of well-wishers before making their way into the chapel through the Galilee Porch. <\/p>\n
One member of the public called out \u201cHappy Easter\u201d to the British monarch, to which he responded, saying: \u201cAnd to you.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked wonderful. He smiled at me and had a little laugh, loved the Welsh flag,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
This year\u2019s celebration is a quieter affair with fewer royals in attendance to minimize the King\u2019s contact with others during his treatment. <\/p>\n
The King and Queen sat apart from the rest of the main congregation for the one-hour service. <\/p>\n
Similarly, the late Queen Elizabeth II sat separately to her loved ones when she attended the funeral of her husband, Prince Philip, which took place amid strict pandemic regulations in 2021. <\/p>\n
The King\u2019s siblings were the first family members to arrive. Prince Edward and Sophie \u2013 the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh \u2013 were accompanied by their son, James, Earl of Wessex. They were followed by the King\u2019s sister, Princess Anne \u2013 who gave a quick wave to the crowd \u2013 and her husband, Tim Laurence, as well as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. <\/p>\n
Following the service, Camilla was presented with a bouquet of white and yellow flowers by a young boy as the royal couple departed the chapel. <\/p>\n
With more cries of \u201cHappy Easter,\u201d Charles thrilled well-wishers by unexpectedly making his way over to them, sparking applause from the public. During the surprise walkabout he appeared at ease, stopping to chat at various points and shaking hands. <\/p>\n
It was unclear if Charles would attend the usual post-service family lunch. In the days ahead, he and Camilla will reportedly take a break for Easter. <\/p>\n
The King\u2019s presence will be an encouraging sight for many royal-watchers after he temporarily paused public-facing engagements on the advice of his doctors. <\/p>\n
He has, however, kept a steady hand on the tiller, seeing to state business and official paperwork with his daily red boxes from the UK government while maintaining a diary of private audiences as well as his regular weekly meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. <\/p>\n
In recent days, he greeted the new ambassadors of Moldova and Burundi at Buckingham Palace, met with secretary-general of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, as well as sat down with a group of community and faith leaders from around the UK. <\/p>\n
Charles sought to reassure the nation he has been handling constitutional matters behind the scenes in a personal message ahead of Easter weekend. <\/p>\n
In a recorded audio address for the annual Royal Maundy service on Thursday, he reiterated his coronation pledge \u201cnot to be served but to serve\u201d with \u201cmy whole heart.\u201d <\/p>\n
He also shared his \u201cgreat sadness\u201d that he wasn\u2019t able to join the congregation, saying the service \u201chas a very special place in my heart.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Queen deputized for her husband, distributing the traditional Maundy money \u2013 specially-minted coins \u2013 to people in recognition of their service to the church and local community. <\/p>\n
A notable absence from Sunday\u2019s Easter festivities were the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children. The Waleses attended last year with Prince Louis making his debut at the family outing to the delight of royal-watchers. <\/p>\n
The family of five have been laying low since Catherine disclosed a little over a week ago that she had started chemotherapy for cancer found in post-operation tests after a planned abdominal surgery in January. <\/p>\n
The Waleses are spending the Easter holidays together as they continue to adjust to Kate\u2019s diagnosis. <\/p>\n
A\u00a0Kensington Palace spokesperson said last Saturday that the prince and princess had been \u201cextremely moved by the public\u2019s warmth and support\u201d and were \u201cgrateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kate has not been seen in an official capacity since Christmas Day. Easter had initially been suggested by Kensington Palace as the period when she would resume duties following her operation. However, her return has been postponed until cleared to do so by her medical team. <\/p>\n
Prince William is expected to resume public engagements in mid-April once Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have restarted school. <\/p>\n\n
King Charles III has made his most significant outing since his cancer diagnosis last month, attending the traditional Easter Mattins church service in Windsor on Sunday. Charles, 75, appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived by car to St. George\u2019s Chapel, a 14th-century building on the grounds of Windsor Castle, around an hour\u2019s <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}