Royal news - live: Prince William shares touching Kate Middleton update following her cancer treatment

Melania Trump is once again the First Lady of the US after her husband, Donald Trump, secured a second term in office.

Earlier this year, the former fashion model revealed an unlikely friendship between herself and the monarch in her memoir, Melania.

She explained that after their first meeting in New York in 2005, the pair reconnected in 2019 during a state visit to the UK, by which point Trump was in the White House.

“The evening’s state banquet was a formal and elegant affair. I was seated next to Prince Charles, and it was an absolute pleasure to reconnect with him,” Melania wrote. “Our paths had crossed many years ago in New York City. This time we engaged in an interesting conversation about his deep-rooted commitment to environmental conservation.”

She added: “Our friendship with the royal family continues and we exchange letters with King Charles to this day.”

The royal family plays a key part in the UK-US special relationship, and Donald Trump is well known for his love of the monarchy.

During his last term, Trump visited the UK on a grand state visit, hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

He boasted he had “automatic chemistry” with late Queen and said: “I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry, you will understand that feeling.”

But author Craig Brown, in his new biography A Voyage Around The Queen, has since claimed that the monarch found Mr Trump “very rude”.

She is said to have “particularly disliked” the way he “couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting”.

In 2018, Mr Trump joined the Queen for tea at Windsor Castle. As they inspected a Guard of Honour, the president walked along before standing still in front of the Queen, meaning she had to navigate her way around him so they could walk side by side.

At the state visit a year later, he was treated to a full programme of pomp and pageantry, with a ceremonial welcome and a glittering ballroom banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Charles inspected a Guard of Honour with Mr Trump on the lawns of the royal residence, dined with him at the banquet and had tea with him, Mrs Trump and the then-Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House.

Mr Trump, who is known for his extreme hand-holding, appeared to deliver a fist bump to Elizabeth II in the Palace gardens, but it was more likely an unusual clench of her hand. He tweeted the London trip had been a success, adding: “The Queen and the entire Royal family have been fantastic.”

As Donald Trump makes a dramatic return to the White House, it is expected he and the King will meet eachother once again.

President-elect Trump was already feted with a grand state visit to the UK, hosted by the Queen in 2019, making it unlikely he will be invited to make a second one.

Precedent for second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit appears to be tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.

But nothing should be ruled out when it comes to Mr Trump and the King and Queen could instead be invited to America by Trump.

Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the King on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, so any decision ultimately lies with the Government.

Mr Trump and the King, as the Prince of Wales, have met several times, although not since Charles acceded to the throne in 2022, with Mr Trump’s first term as American leader ending in 2021 - but they appear to be on friendly terms.

Prince William revealed a promise he made to Princess Charlotte as he shared an update on the Princess of Wales’ health.

Speaking from Cape Town in South Africa on Wednesday (6 November), as he prepares to award winners of the EarthShot Prize, the Prince of Wales sported a special bracelet given to him by his daughter.

William told Sky News: “I made a promise to Charlotte to wear it.”

The prince was then asked how Catherine is following her cancer treatment.

William replied: “She is doing relly well. She’s doing amazing.

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The Queen is set to attend the glitzy global premiere of Gladiator II next week despite falling ill with a chest infection.

Buckingham Palace announced the King and Camilla will meet the stars of the blockbuster, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal, and director Sir Ridley Scott.

The royal couple will settle down to watch the screening of the highly-anticipated sequel at the Royal Film Performance in London’s Leicester Square next Wednesday evening.

Camilla, 77, who this week was forced to pull out of engagements after catching a seasonal illness, will also join Charles as they host a special reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the UK’s television and film industry earlier in the day.

The King and Queen will welcome guests including directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers.

The Queen has withdrawn from official engagements this week due to a chest infection in the latest of royal health concerns this year.

Camilla has had her own hare of hospital stays and setbacks over the years. She has suffered a broken leg, back pain, had a hysterectomy, and contracted Covid twice.

The former Mrs Parker Bowles took on the role of Queen Consort when she was 75 – an age at which many people are already well into retirement.

After one well-wisher in Cardiff remarked she must be absolutely exhausted, Camilla replied: “Yes, we are, but we have to carry on, stopping would be worse.”

The Queen used to be a heavy smoker – a habit Charles loathes – but she gave up many years ago. In 2019, she pulled out of a gala dinner on medical advice after contracting a chest infection.

The Prince of Wales has announced a potentially game-changing new life insurance cover for rangers who safeguard Africa’s wildlife.

William described the workers as “guardians of our planet’s most precious resources” as he outlined the five-year Ranger Welfare and Standards Initiative, providing 10,000 rangers working across Africa access to the financial scheme.

The death toll among rangers was significant during the period from June 2023 to May 2024, with 140 losing their lives to a range of factors from animal attacks and occupational accidents to targeting by poachers.

Giving the keynote speech at the start of a two-day summit for his United for Wildlife organisation, which combats the illegal trafficking of animals, the prince said: “Rangers are fundamental if we are to meet our global conservation targets for 2030 and prevent the dangerous tipping points that threaten our planet.

“These people do far more than protect wildlife. They are educators. They are community supporters. And they help regulate the sustainable use of natural resources.”

A slice of cake from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding has sold at auction for £2,200.

The fruit cake was found under a bed in a suitcase in the original box, along with a presentation card postmarked April 21 1948, auctioneers Reeman Dansie said.

The fully packaged cake in its original state is “very rare” and was expected to gather £500, but was sold over the phone on Tuesday to a Chinese buyer for £2,200.

“It’s incredibly rare because normally, of course, people would have eaten it,” said Jonathan Benson, auctioneer at Reeman Dansie.

It was put up for sale by the family of Marion Polson, an ex-member of the Royal Household who worked at Holyroodhouse from 1931 to 1969 and who later died in the 1980s.

Slices of the cake were gifted to royal staff to mark the wedding of then-Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Prince Philip of Greece R.N. on November 20 1947.

The royal family have been accused in Parliament of levying charges on land that “doesn’t really belong to them”.

The criticism came after a Sunday Times and Channel 4 expose was published on the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which fund the King and the Prince of Wales.

The report revealed that the royals are making millions of pounds a year by charging government departments, councils, businesses, mining companies and the general public via a series of commercial rents and feudal levies on land seized by medieval monarchs.

Lord Berkeley, who questioned the legitimacy of this ownership, said he has seen the effects of this where he lives on the Isles of Scilly, where most the land and nearly a third of the residential buildings are owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

He said: “We’ve got one example of farmers on the Isles of Scilly, [who] want to see an abattoir built so they don’t have to transport animals to the mainland, which I think is a very good idea.

“The Duchy said, ‘well you can have the land’ – well, many of us think that they don’t own the land anyway, but leaving that to one side – they allocate land to an abattoir, they are then going to charge the farmer for using it.

“Is that right when the land probably doesn’t really belong to them and they’re not contributing to the cost?”