U.K.'s King Charles III to visit Australia and Samoa on first royal tour abroad since cancer diagnosis
King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to Australia and Samoa in October for a meeting with the Commonwealth heads of government, Buckingham Palace announced Sunday. The trip will be the king's first formal royal tour of British Commonwealth nations since he disclosed his cancer diagnosis in February.
According to Buckingham Palace, the two royals will visit Australia at the invitation of the country's government and the trip will feature engagements in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. They will then visit Samoa to celebrate the "strong bilateral relationship between the Pacific Island nation and the U.K."
Additional details about the royals' itinerary during the trip will be announced in due course, the palace said.
Charles, 75, took a break from public duties for nearly three months after he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer while he was undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate.
In April, he was given the green light to resume public duties, and doctors said they were "very encouraged" by his progress.
His first official engagement was a short trip to meet staff and patients at a London cancer treatment center. In June, he attended commemoration events in northern France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. During the Trooping the Color parade, a week later, Charles rode in a carriage rather than on horseback as he had done in previous years.
The king's daughter-in-law, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. She has made just two public appearances — at the Trooping the Color parade and the Wimbledon men's final on Sunday — since disclosing she was undergoing treatment.