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Prince William returned to royal duties on Wednesday and thanked people for their concern for his father, King Charles, and his wife, Kate Middleton.
Buckingham Palace announced Monday that the king has been diagnosed with cancer, while the Princess of Wales is currently recovering from a nearly two-week hospital stay for abdominal surgery.
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On Wednesday night, the royal attended a gala dinner for the London Air Ambulance charity, where she gave a speech addressing the health problems of her father and his wife.
“Good afternoon everyone. Thank you all for being here,” William said during dinner.
“I would like to take this opportunity to also thank Catherine and my father for the kind messages of support, especially in recent days. “It means a lot to all of us.”
“It’s fair to say that the last few weeks have had a rather ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance show to get away from it all,” she joked.
Later in the speech, William also made sure to thank a special guest, Tom Cruise, for attending the event.
“Tom, thank you so much for supporting us tonight,” he said. “And Tom, if you don’t mind not borrowing any of the new helicopters for the next ‘Mission Impossible,’ we’d appreciate it. We’ve all seen on our screens that, how can I put it, you seem to have a different view of “normal wear” than the rest of us. It’s not the type that gets better.”
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Charles and Kate’s health status has dominated the headlines since January 16, when their medical concerns were announced.
That day, Kensington Palace shared that Kate had undergone a “planned” operation.
“The surgery was successful and he is expected to remain in the hospital for 10 to 14 days, before returning home to continue his recovery,” the palace shared with HuffPost at the time. “Based on current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”
Shortly after, Buckingham Palace shared a statement with HuffPost that said the king had “seeked treatment for an enlarged prostate” and would undergo a procedure in hospital the following week.
Charles underwent surgery on January 26 and was released from the hospital three days later.
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On January 29, the public was informed that Kate had “returned home to Windsor to continue recovering from surgery” and was “making good progress.”
Kensington Palace has yet to confirm Kate’s official diagnosis, although it is not believed to be cancer-related. Buckingham Palace has also not specified the type of cancer that Charles suffers from, but did confirm that it is not prostate cancer.