The King shook hands with members of the public after attending church on Easter Sunday. Photo / AP
The King shook hands with members of the public after attending church on Easter Sunday. Photo / AP
It was almost as if he had never been away. The King has re-emerged into public life for the first time since his diagnosis with cancer, in a walkabout that included 56 handshakes, a homemade card and a promise that he is “doing his best”.
He was “verytouched” to see people there for him, he said, smiling broadly and thanking members of the public as their hopes that he “get well soon”, “keep going strong” and “never give in” rolled in.
At Windsor Castle, following the Easter Matins service that was his first public appearance since Christmas Day, the King was in his element. His doctors agreed to “adjust their guidance slightly” after he responded “very encouragingly” to treatment. It meant he could, for one day, resume the walkabouts he loves.
King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the Easter Sunday service together. Photo / AP
To understand the magnitude of the King’s step back towards public life, one needed to look no further than the Queen.
As he watched the crowds, she occasionally watched him, with pride and no little relief at seeing him back in action.
Plans for the St George’s Chapel outing had been in flux until the last minute, in an operation nicknamed “Easter Lite”.
A smaller-than-usual contingent of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of York, arrived at the chapel by car, before taking their seats inside, the King “slightly apart” from his family and the main congregation in the Sovereign’s Seat.
The service, on traditional Easter themes of the resurrection of Christ, ended with a rendition of God Save the King, heard outside the chapel by a small crowd who had been let into the grounds of the castle as it became apparent the King would be able to greet them.
After the service, the King “popped his head” in to briefly say hello to members of his family who gathered in the deanery for drinks, before heading outside.
It was part of a carefully choreographed morning, which saw him prioritise duty over leisure – skipping a low-key private catch-up with family and close friends in favour of a very public walkabout.
The King shook hands with members of the public after attending church on Easter Sunday. Photo / AP
The King looked well, observers remarked. In fact, he looked delighted to be able to spend five minutes making small talk with people outside the palace walls for the first time in 97 days.
The Queen wore a green coat dress by Anna Valentine and a hat by Philip Treacy with an emerald and diamond brooch once belonging to Queen Elizabeth II.
After weeks of solo engagements for the Queen as the King worked behind closed doors, the couple were side by side once again to wave as they walked through the Galilee porch behind the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, with their son James, Earl of Wessex, the Yorks, and the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
Earlier in the day, the Archbishop of Canterbury had told his congregation of the “dignity of the King and the Princess of Wales as they have talked of their cancer”, saying: “In doing so, by their lack of selfishness, by their grace and their faith, [they] boosted so many others.”
In Windsor, expectations for the day had been set deliberately low. But a small crowd, some wearing Union flags as scarves and holding homemade cards, gathered nonetheless. Their hopes were rewarded.
The “risk management” strategy for the King during his treatment was extended to include at least 56 handshakes during the walkabout, and dozens of short remarks to those who had made the effort to come.
The King went straight to Anne Daley, waving a Welsh national flag, who wished him well and asked him to pass on her best wishes to the Princess of Wales.
“You’re very brave to stand out here in the cold,” the King told her.
Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children George, Charlotte and Louis did not appear in public over Easter weekend, as the Princess of Wales undergoes treatment for cancer. Photo / AP
Another well-wisher, wrapped in a Union flag, gave His Majesty a homemade get well soon card. “Thank you very much, that’s very kind,” he replied. “Did you make it?”
The King said he was “very touched” when he asked another member of the public if she had come to see the castle and was told: “No, we’ve come to see you!”
Another told him: “Happy Easter your Majesty, never give in, keep going strong.”
“I just obey my instructions,” the King joked, with a glance towards his wife.
Katrina Warne, 62, from Surrey, said afterwards: “I sent my best and said we all wanted him to get well soon. He told me: ‘I’m doing my best.’”
After his five-minute walkabout, the King was driven back up to the castle in his state Bentley.
The rest of the family, led by the Edinburghs, walked back to the castle, wishing the crowd “happy Easter”. The Duke of York, who has stepped back from public duties, did not stop to speak.
The King’s outing was described by a palace source as a “significant step”, which had “hopefully offered wider public reassurance that His Majesty is doing well and that the road ahead is looking very positive”.
He had responded “very encouragingly” to his treatment, they said, adding “his doctors were thus able to adjust their guidance slightly on what His Majesty is now able to undertake”.
“To be clear, His Majesty’s treatment continues and caution is of course the watchword, but as diary plans are evolved towards summer, we hope to see more of these carefully calibrated steps towards the resumption of some public facing duties for the King, with adjustments made where necessary.”
A source warned that all plans remained “in flux and are subject to medical guidance”, but noted: “There is great hope and optimism from both doctors and the patient.”
After weeks of completing his red boxes and audiences behind closed doors, the live challenge of the walkabout – with all its oddities – provided a bit of light relief.
As one member of the public shouted “Camilla is 17 now”, the King seemed politely baffled before learning she was not talking about his wife, but her Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
