King Charles has left hospital after treatment for an enlarged prostate.
The King walked out of the London Clinic private hospital, having spent three nights there following his procedure. Earlier, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, left the same central London hospital, almost two weeks after undergoing “abdominal surgery”. The princess was driven to her home in Windsor, without any public appearance, and will spend months in recuperation. The King left the hospital this afternoon with his wife, Queen Camilla, and waved to the cameras before getting into his car. Buckingham Palace said the King would have to postpone his public engagements “to allow for a period of private recuperation”. It is not known how long the King will be pausing his official visits, or where he will spend his time in recovery. The medical treatment has not been significant enough to require any constitutional changes for the King’s role as head of state. There has been no need for “counsellors of state”, who can stand in when a monarch is seriously ill.
Consultant urological surgeon Rick Popert said patients who have had a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate “can expect to have some mild discomfort”. “Any operation is an injury and injuries take four to six weeks to heal”, explained Mr Popert, a consultant at The London Clinic, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and London Bridge Hospital. “It is important to take things gently in the first couple of weeks, but I would expect patients to be fully mobile but avoid heavy lifting or strenuous exercise.”
Earlier on Monday, Kate left the London Clinic, having spent 13 nights there since her operation. The exact nature of the surgery has not been revealed, but it is serious enough for the princess to have needed a significant amount of time in hospital and then to need several months of recovery. She has not appeared in public since Christmas Day and went into hospital and left without being spotted. Kensington Palace said the princess would “continue her recovery” from home, which is expected to be Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom house not far from Windsor Castle. She will return to her children and husband Prince William, who was seen visiting the princess during her stay in hospital. Catherine, 42, was visited by the King in hospital before he had his prostate procedure on Friday.
The King had been treated for a benign prostate problem, which is non-cancerous, and a common condition in older men, according to the NHS. About one in three men over the age of 50 will have some symptoms of an enlarged prostate, which is a gland that sits just below the bladder. The plan for King Charles, aged 75, to have “corrective procedure” for his prostate was made public as a way of encouraging other men to get prostate checks. The NHS website recorded a surge in searches about enlarged prostates and the King was “delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness”.
