King Charles told a cancer patient, “I’m not too bad,” when asked about his recovery during a visit to officially open a new hospital.
Charles has been undergoing treatment since February last year. Buckingham Palace has not confirmed the type of cancer, but it is understood not to be prostate.
The monarch, 76, added: “Half the problem is detecting it in time,” and said doctors are “better at dealing” with cancer and “there’s always hope down the road.”
At the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, he met patient Matthew Shinda, who is being treated for prostate cancer.
King Charles tells cancer patient ‘I’m not too bad’ during hospital visit
|GETTY
Mr Shinda told the King: “I’ve got what you’ve got. Last stage. I could go today, I could go tomorrow.”
The King asked: “Have they been giving you all the right treatment? Marvellous nurses.”
Mr Shinda said he was glad to see the King recovering and explained his diagnosis followed the discovery of a lump.
Charles replied: “As long as they’re making you comfortable.” Mr Shinda said: “Of course. That’s one of the priorities. Making me comfortable.”
Mr Shinda guessed Charles was one year older, prompting laughter
|PA
“The great thing I think is they’re getting better and better at dealing with these things. The trouble is there’s always hope down the road,” the King added.
“I am sorry about that. It’s so frustrating. We’re probably about the same age, are we?”
Mr Shinda guessed Charles was one year older, prompting laughter. When Mr Shinda said he would like a drink, the King joked: “I should have brought a whiskey. It’s supposed to be very good for the heart.”
He also asked about Mr Shinda’s daughters and grandchildren. After the meeting, Mr Shinda said: “I was elated. He showed concern.”
King Charles and Jacqueline Page discovered they had met before | PAElsewhere, Charles told retired milkman Philip Barnard, who has lung cancer, that there is “huge progress in treatment.”
He also met Jacqueline Page, 85, who told him: “Lovely to meet you. I wish it was in better circumstances.”
Mrs Page assured the King she was receiving “the best attention,” adding she was “wearing out.”
Charles joked: “Well, this is the terrible thing, as I’m discovering already, bits don’t work so well, do they? Once you get past 70!”
Crowds gathered in the hospital to catch a glimpse of the King | PAShe recalled meeting him in Birmingham in 1978. Charles said: “It was a wonderful old helicopter, I seem to remember. I used to fly it.
"Because I’d flown them in the Navy. I left the Navy in 1976, but I could still remember how to fly it. That was the great thing.”
He later met Hernata Yonas, the first baby born at the hospital, before unveiling a plaque to mark the official opening.