LONDON — Britain’s King Charles III will undergo a “corrective procedure” in the hospital next week after seeking treatment for an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday.
“In common with thousands of men each year, The King has sought treatment for an enlarged prostate,” the statement said. “His Majesty’s condition is benign and he will attend hospital next week for a corrective procedure.”
It added that the 75-year-old’s monarch “public engagements will be postponed for a short period of recuperation.”
A Buckingham Palace source told NBC News that Charles “was keen to share the details of his diagnosis to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked, in line with public health advice.”
The announcement comes on the same day it was announced that Kate, the Princess of Wales, had undergone planned abdominal surgery and will be hospitalized for up to two weeks.
The 42-year-old wife of Prince William, Charles’ eldest son and heir to the throne, will take a prolonged break from her normally busy schedule of public appearances and private engagements, a statement from Kensington Palace said.
Having acceded to the thrown following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in Sep. 2022, Charles was crowned king last May at London’s Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony steeped in a millennium of tradition and pageantry.
Elizabeth, who died at age 96, sat on the throne for a record 70 years. She was 27 when she was crowned in 1953 — an era-defining moment shown on the still-new medium of television for the first time.
In contrast, Charles was a veteran royal, who had traveled around the world many times representing the country, before he was crowned, aged 73.
He has nonetheless faced a number of challenges since he became King, including the ongoing controversy surrounding his brother Prince Andrew’s relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein saw him step back from royal duties in 2022.
The publication of Prince Harry’s book, “Spare,” last year fueled reports of a growing rift with his brother William.
The book came after he decided to step down as a senior royal in January 2020 along with his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. The couple have since relocated to the town of Montecito in California.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey the following year, Meghan said Harry told her that royal insiders had expressed “concerns” about how dark the skin of their children might be. The couple declined to name the individual, but Winfrey later said that Harry had made clear it was not his late grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
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