British head of state King Charles III has been treated for an enlarged prostate and will undergo a procedure in hospital next week, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.
The rare announcement about the monarch’s health comes after Kensington Palace said his daughter-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, had undergone successful abdominal surgery.
Catherine, often known as Kate, is facing up to two weeks in hospital and several months’ recuperation after the operation, which palace officials said was non-cancerous, without specifying further. Charles, 75, became king on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 after spending most of his life as her heir.
He is head of state of 14 other countries outside the United Kingdom, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and is head of the 56-member Commonwealth, which comprises 2.4 billion people. He is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion.