King to host his first official event since cancer treatment side effects

The King will attend his first public engagement since his short hospital stay following cancer treatment side effects when he hosts an investiture ceremony.

Charles will preside over the event at Windsor Castle where he will recognise leading figures and community stalwarts for their efforts.

The King will make TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh a CBE for services to horticulture and charity, and reigning world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson will be made an MBE for services to athletics.

Charles was pictured smiling and waving as he left his Clarence House home in central London on Friday where he spent the night with the Queen following the “minor bump” in his cancer journey.

The King cancelled a busy away-day in Birmingham on Friday to prioritise his recovery, after experiencing temporary side effects following treatment at the London Clinic on Thursday morning, which required a short period of hospital observation that day.

Over the coming days, Charles will be carrying out a mix of public engagements, state duties and private meetings.

A small number of appointments have been rescheduled to ensure an appropriate balance ahead of a busy state visit the King and Queen will make to Italy next week.

On Wednesday, the King will fulfil official duties and meetings at Buckingham Palace and hold his weekly audience with the Prime Minister, and the following day will attend a public engagement in Windsor and celebrate the 80th anniversary of the humanitarian air operator Mission Aviation Fellowship during an event at RAF Northolt in west London.

Friday will be spent making final preparations for the state visit to the Republic of Italy but the separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Vatican – the world’s smallest independent state – has been postponed as the Pope is recovering from a bout of pneumonia.