Bouncing back

Treatment for cancer couldn't keep the King down, as he greeted royal fans from Ascot to Australia

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Just 17 months into the role for which he had waited a lifetime, the King began treatment for cancer. Buckingham Palace's announcement on 5 February set the tone for the stoic way in which the 76-year-old monarch would deal with the situation.

Noting the King's gratitude for the swift action of his doctors, who had discovered the issue during surgery on a benign enlarged prostate, it went on to say that he was "wholly positive about his treatment" and that, although he needed to scale back his workload temporarily, he "looked forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible".

And that's exactly what he did. By early April, when he and the Queen celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary, Charles was out and about, choosing for his first engagement a visit to a cancer treatment centre, where he chatted warmly to patients and staff.

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