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- By Aoife Walsh and Sean Seddon
- bbc news
Image source, fake images
King Charles III’s cancer was “caught early” and normal communications between the monarch and No 10 continue, Rishi Sunak told the BBC.
The prime minister said he was “shocked and saddened” by the news but is in “regular contact” with the monarch.
The King, 75, postponed all his public duties and began “regular treatments” for his condition on Monday.
The Palace said he did not have prostate cancer, but few other details have been revealed.
Sunak told BBC Radio 5 Live: “He will be in our thoughts and prayers – many families across the country listening to this will have been touched by the same and know what it means for everyone.”
It is understood the King’s weekly audiences with Sunak will continue in person unless doctors advise him to limit such contact.
The Palace has stressed that the King will continue his constitutional role as head of state, including completing paperwork and holding private meetings.
On Monday, the Palace said the monarch “remains totally positive” about his treatment and “looks forward” to returning to his normal schedule.
The King returned to London for outpatient cancer care from his home in Sandringham, where he was seen waving to crowds during a 10-minute walk to the church the day before.
King Charles’ cancer diagnosis
The king personally informed his two sons of his diagnosis and Prince William is said to be in regular contact with his father.
The Duke of Sussex, who lives in the United States, spoke with his father and is traveling to the United Kingdom to see him. According to reports, he could arrive Tuesday afternoon.
The Palace has not indicated when the King will return to public duties.
It is unclear whether official visits to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa scheduled for later this year will take place.
The King’s cancer diagnosis follows a procedure performed at a private London hospital more than a week ago for a “benign” prostate condition.
Listen: Prime Minister ‘shocked and saddened’ by King’s cancer diagnosis
On Monday, the Palace said “another cause for concern was noted and subsequently diagnosed as a form of cancer” during that treatment.
The King decided to make his cancer treatment public, the Palace said, as he had been a patron of several cancer-related charities when he was Prince of Wales.
The Royal Society of Medicine thanked the King for highlighting “how cancer is indiscriminate” and urged members of the public eligible for cancer screening to make an appointment.
Simon Lewis, who was press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II between 1997 and 1999, praised the king for his candor, adding that “20 years ago there would have been a very curt, short statement and that would have been it.”
He told Radio 4’s Today program that the cancer diagnosis would be “a lot to process” but said “I know from the people around him that he will be absolutely eager to get on with” his formal constitutional duties behind the scenes.
One in two people in the UK develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.
There are more than 200 types of cancer; the most common in the UK are breast, lung, prostate and bowel, according to the NHS website.
For many types of cancer, the chance of developing it increases with age. Figures from the UK suggest that, on average each year, more than a third (36%) of new cancer cases occurred in people aged 75 and over.
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Additional reporting by Sean Coughlan, Royal Correspondent