Royal news – live: King Charles to miss key summit days after ‘pause’ in cancer treatment approved by doctors

The Duchess of York has opened up about her recent cancer battle while on a visit to a cancer charity centre with Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor.

Sarah, 64, was diagnosed with breast cancer, like Ms Dynevor, after a routine mammogram last year before being diagnosed with malignant melanoma skin cancer just months later.

During the visit, Sarah, who is now in remission, spoke to staff and patients and stressed the importance of speaking openly about the illness.

She said: “I think a lot of people are frightened to talk. They’re frightened that they don’t know where to go or what to do.”

The duchess added: “What I noticed today was I had a few private conversations with patients and they couldn’t get over that I was here having had a mastectomy, and that I said, ‘I’ve had a mastectomy. Here I am’.

“One of them in particular said, ‘Oh, so it wasn’t as frightening as you being led to believe?’.

“And I said, ‘No, it’s OK, just get good lymph drainage in after the operation’.

“I think that’s crucial because it is nothing worse than that fear.

“I had that fear as soon as I was diagnosed, I had that fear of death. You think it’s a death sentence. It’s not.”

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have today not only followed in the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s footsteps but recreated some of their photographs.

The couple are currently on a four-day visit to Malta, marking the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have paid a poignant visit to the former home of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Malta.

Villa Guardamangia was home to the royals during the early part of their marriage between 1949 and 1951 while Philip was stationed as a Royal Navy officer in the country.

“Visiting Malta is always very special for me. I remember happy days here with Prince Philip when we were first married,” the late queen said.

Prince William has said that he wants to “challenge” the existing narrative around homelessness in a trailer for an upcoming documentary about the subject.

He is currently tackling the issue through his Homewards project.

The heir to the throne, 42, said: “I think it’s really important that we can try and change, and tackle, the narrative around homelessness.

“People live with it, we see it every day in our lives, that’s something I want to challenge.”

A royal commentator has speculated that Prince William’s vision for a radically slimmed-down monarchy could affect Princess Anne, widely believed to be the hardest-working royal.

Tom Skyes, royal editor at The Daily Beast, noted that the Princess Royal’s “raison d’être is zooming around the country, squeezing in 500-plus engagements a year.”

He explained: “William has made it very clear he doesn’t see that as the family’s role anymore, preferring a tiny number of limited, high-impact engagements and events to the paternalistic, seen-to-be-believed, helicopter-riding royal attitude of old.”

The princess carried out 172 engagements between January and April of this year – more than double the number of any other working royal.

The Duke of Kent is today celebrating his 89th birthday today (9 October).

He is the first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II and has held his title for over a record-breaking 82 years.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have paid tribute to those who gave their lives during the Second World War while on their ongoing visit to Malta.

Alongside a post showing the couple placing tributes into Valletta harbour, the royal family acknowledged the awarding of the George Cross to the Maltese population in 1942.

“In 1942, at the height of the attacks, King George VI awarded the George Cross to the Maltese population in recognition of their resistance, endurance and loyalty,” it was said in a statement.

The Duchess of Edinburgh’s special reading of a bedtime story to mark World Sight Day will air on CBeebies tomorrow.

She said in a trailer for the programme: “Millions of us need glasses to see the world clearly.

“World Sight Day is a reminder to all of us to take care of our eyes, whether we need glasses or not.

“Our eyes are precious, and our sight is something to cherish and look after. So, let’s remember to take care of our eyes this World Sight Day.”

The duchess is set to read Specs for Rex, written by Yasmeen Ismail – a story about a young lion who is reluctant to wear glasses to school.

Melania Trump has shed light on the royal family’s relationship with the former president and first lady ahead of next month’s presidential election.

This could see Donald Trump enter the White House for a second term after he lost to Democratic candidate Joe Biden in November 2022.

Writing in her new memoir, she revealed that she shares an “ongoing correspondence” with King Charles and explained that she and her husband “truly connected” with the late Queen Elizabeth II on a state visit in 2019, during Mr Trump’s first presidential term.

She proceeded to praise the royals for their hospitality during the visit, revealing that the late queen even gifted her a specially commissioned silver box engraved with the ceiling motifs from the Buckingham Palace music room.

King Charles is said to have finally broken his decades-long aversion to eating lunch on the advice of doctors and Queen Camilla.

The monarch, 75, is now reported to be eating half an avocado for the sake of his health as he continues to undergo treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.

A source told the Daily Mail: “With some reluctance, he now has something to eat at lunchtime – a snack, really.

“He now eats half an avocado to sustain him through the day.

“It’s important, particularly if you have got an illness.”