King Charles reveals side-effect of ongoing treatment in emotional chat with cancer sufferer
13 May 2024, 13:52 | Updated: 13 May 2024, 14:12
King Charles has opened up on the very personal side effect of his health battle in an emotional chat with another cancer patient today.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Charles revealed he has now lost his sense of taste as he spoke with British Army veteran Aaron Mapplebeck during his visit to the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, on Monday.
The veteran told the 75-year-old monarch that he had undergone chemotherapy last year to treat testicular cancer, which had resulted in him losing his sense of taste.
The King then went on to reveal the side-effect had also happened to him.
Buckingham Palace has neither identified the form of cancer Charles has been diagnosed with, nor the King's treatment details.
It comes as Charles took part in a special ceremony with Prime William where he officially passed over command of Prince Harry's former regiment that he previously served in during his time in Afghanistan.
Read More: King Charles 'offered Harry royal residence' for his UK visit but he 'turned it down' following snub
Arriving by helicopter, the King made one of his first public engagements since his gradual return to duties following his cancer diagnosis, as his treatment continues.
It marks a historic succession, given the King formerly held the position of colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps for 32 years - a role now occupied by his eldest son, Prince William.
It comes as Charles is also expected to carry out his first major investiture on Tuesday since being diagnosed with cancer.
He will knight the Archbishop of Canterbury and bestow a damehood on bestselling author Dame Jilly Cooper alongside 50 other recipients at Windsor Castle.
The King was given permission by his doctors to return to public duties last month.
Although it will be his largest indoor ceremony for many months, the investiture is on a slightly smaller scale than usual.
Around 60 people, and sometimes more than 70, are typically invested with their honours, watched by their chosen guests.
It will be the first investiture ceremony the King has conducted for five months, with his last one taking place on December 19, a month before he was admitted to hospital for treatment on his prostate.
Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby will be made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) following his significant role in the coronation last year and his personal service to the Crown.
The Royal Victorian Order is awarded by the palace to people who have served the monarch or the royal family in a personal way.
Dame Jilly Cooper, meanwhile, is being honoured for services to literature and to charity.
She is known for her steamy fiction focusing on scandal and adultery in upper-class society, including her titles: Riders, Rivals, Polo, Mount!, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, and her most recent work Tackle!
Dame Jilly is also a long-standing friend of Queen Camilla, and the author based her fictional seducer Rupert Campbell-Black partly on Camilla's ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.
Others include the Dean of Westminster Abbey, the Very Rev Dr David Hoyle, who is being made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).
Household Division Brigade Major Lieutenant Colonel James Shaw has become a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).
Lt Col Shaw, on the horse Sovereign's Shadow, led more than 4,000 servicemen and women in the grand coronation procession from the Abbey to the Palace which saw Charles and Camilla travel in the Gold State Coach after the historic ceremony.
Labour's Dame Margaret Beckett, who is standing down at the next election after 40 years representing Derby South, will be made a Dame Grand Cross.
