King Charles cancer diagnosis LATEST updates: Prince Harry returns home as Meghan Markle is pictured while other royals continue to carry out engagements as monarch recuperates

Chief Royal Correspondent Jack Royston told Sky News it would be ‘tempting’ for Harry to feel ‘rejected’ given how short his meeting was with King Charles.

Harry flew 5,000 miles from California on Tuesday to see his father following the King’s shock cancer diagnosis.

Their meeting lasted less than an hour, with Charles holding up his helicopter so he could see his son for a bit longer.

Mr Royston said: ‘Visiting the Royals usually takes time to organise even when they’re in Britian to be completely honest about it, and he touched down in the UK and was face to face with his father less than 24 hours after we found out the diagnosis.

‘It would be very tempting for Harry to feel slightly rebuffed, maybe even slightly rejected, based on how short and brief that was. I don’t think he should. I think we know Charles held up the helicopter so that he could see Harry.’

Elizabeth II always kept one of her favourite photos on her writing desk. It shows her father King George VI with the future Charles III on the young prince’s third birthday.

Neither the queen nor her father realised at the time that the king was dying from cancer.

Fast forward seven decades and we are experiencing a sea-change in how the royals deal with sensitive health issues amongst themselves, as well as how they communicate it to the rest of us.

Read the full story here:

Stephen Fry has praised King Charles for making his cancer diagnosis public.

The actor and comedian, 66, said Charles’s ‘very swift modernising’ of the monarchy now includes ‘an openness about something as personal and personal and indelicate as cancer’.

Fry, who had prostate cancer in 2018, told BBC’s Today Podcast: ‘I am anxious, of course – anxious for his wellbeing, and anxious that, having sort of been in the wings all this time and to have such a short time on centre stage, if he were to be seriously ill, would be really, really sad, because he has a lot to do and a lot he wants to do.

‘I think what he wants to do is good, is beneficial for the country and for the people he’s there to help.’

The actor stressed the importance of people talking about the disease. “Cancer is sort of mushroom-like – in the dark it grows,’ he said. ‘It’s more dangerous when not exposed to the light. It’s a bit like the Voldemort principle in the Harry Potter books – if you’re afraid to say the name then the name has more power over you.’

Charles will still be carrying out constitutional roles such as paperwork while he undergoes treatment for cancer.

But likely to help out with more public duties are his immediate family members, senior members of the royal family Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Edward and Princess Anne.

Prince William returned to royal duties yesterday after taking time off while his wife, Princess Catherine, recovers from abdominal surgery.

King Charles issued his first public statement since his shock cancer diagnosis.

The King broke his public silence last night to issue a statement to mark the 50th anniversary of independence of the former British colony Grenada.

Charles apologised for being unable to visit the Caribbean island, referencing Grenada’s national dish – a stew known as ‘Oil Down’.

The statement read: ‘I can only say how sorry I am that I cannot be with you in person to mark this momentous milestone, and to enjoy a little Oil Down with you all!’

Twenty-five minutes was all it took for the Left to start politicising the King’s cancer.

Quick work, lads. A political activist called John Smith was first to the draw, taking to X to complain the monarch had not been stuck on an NHS waiting list. Mr Smith went on to denounce the ‘defunding of public healthcare done by neoliberal governments to enrich the 1 per cent, who the King belongs to’.

Read the full story here:

King Charles is still expected to carry out his constitutional roles in private but will make less public appearances as he undergoes treatment for cancer.

The King’s roles will likely reflect those of the royal family during Covid, which saw more meetings take place via FaceTime and Zoom calls.

If unable to complete his constitutional roles a mechanism will come into play, meaning other senior members of the royal family will act on the King’s behalf. These people include Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Edward and Princess Anne.

King Charles will naturally have his treatment in hospital, but King George had his left lung removed at Buckingham Palace where the Buhl Room was converted to a makeshift surgery, writes IAN LLOYD. Read his full article here:

Prince William gave a pre-dinner speech at an event for London’s Air Ambulance Charity’s new fleet of helicopters, where guests included Hollywood star Tom Cruise.

At a reception before the dinner last night, the Prince of Wales, a former air ambulance helicopter pilot, met crews from London’s service and chatted to Cruise.

William joked about a pair of custom slippers he wore at the Top Gun: Maverick film premiere, telling the actor, who starred in the sequel: ‘I haven’t got my Top Gun slippers on’. Cruise quipped: ‘I miss them.’

Read this article from ROBERT JOBSON, in which he reveals Harry caused some disquiet by ‘taking it upon himself’ to fly over unbidden and at such short notice:

These engagements will be carried out by members of the Royal Family across London today, as listed in the official Royal Diary:

Princess Anne, Princess Royal

• As president of the Royal Yachting Association, Anne will attend the annual luncheon at Trinity House in Tower Hill
• As vice patron of the British Horse Society, she will visit Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre in White City

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

• Edward will attend a reception at the Institute of Physics in North London
• As patron of the Production Guild of Great Britain, Edward will attend a Talent Showcase at The Savoy

The Princess of Wales is continuing her recovering from planned abdominal surgery at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.

Kate Middleton left the London Clinic hospital on Monday of last week and returned home to be reunited with her three children.

The 42-year-old future queen is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter. She is pictured below in London in December last year:

Weekly audiences between the King and Rishi Sunak are expected to resume in person in two weeks following Charles’ cancer diagnosis, it is understood.

Downing Street and Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of confirming details of a call between the two yesterday, to show the King was carrying on with duties.

The Prime Minister wished Charles well in a brief phone conversation before formal face-to-face audiences recommence on February 21. Read the full article here:

Last night the Prince of Wales spoke about the King’s cancer diagnosis for the first time as he expressed his gratitude to the public for their ‘kind messages of support’.

William’s words of praise, delivered during a fundraising gala dinner, also recognised those who wished Kate well, as she recovers from planned abdominal surgery.

Watch a video of his comments, as he told guests: ‘It means a great deal to us all.’

Stephen Fry has said it would be ‘really sad’ if his close friend King Charles was ‘seriously ill’ after waiting so long to be crowned because the monarch has ‘so much he wants to do.’ Read his full comments in an interview in this MailOnline article:

Now let’s take a look at today’s Daily Mail front page, which reports on how Prince William said the nation’s well-wishes ‘mean a great deal to us all’.

You can pick up a copy of today’s newspaper for £1 in all good newsagents.

Let’s start with a look at our top story this morning, which is that Meghan Markle has been seen for the first time since Prince Harry dashed to meet with King Charles.

The Duchess of Sussex flashed a smile as she drove around near her $14 million Montecito home. Read the article from our colleagues at DailyMail.com in the US:

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage on February 8, 2024 as King Charles III recuperates at Sandringham following his cancer treatment.

Meanwhile Prince Harry has returned home to his wife Meghan Markle in California, and Prince William has spoken about his father’s diagnosis for the first time.

Stay with us throughout today for live updates.