The British monarch won hearts with his bold move during his visit to new hospital centre, supporting to thousands of cancer patients across Yorkshire.
The 77-year-ol left lasting impression as he toured a newly redeveloped treatment facility ahead of its official opening on Tuesday.
The King, who’s also undergoing cancer treatment, received a warm welcome from patients and staff at York Hospital as he viewed the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre.
Among those he met was Lou Rhodes, 49, who has stage 4 secondary breast cancer and contributed to the centre’s design as a patient representative.
Rhodes, from Hopgrove in York, lavished praise on the monarch, describing the encounter as “amazing, an absolute honour.”
“The King was just lovely, so personable, so friendly. I just seemed to connect with him straightaway. He’s got cancer, I’ve got cancer, and straightaway he sort of looked in my eyes, so you’ve got that bond I suppose,” she excitedly added.
She believes the monarch truly comprehends what patients experience because of his own diagnosis.
Rhodes, whose father died from cancer, said he would have been immensely proud of her meeting with the monarch.
After she shared the news of her father’s passing from the disease, the King responded: “There’s such a lot of it about.”
As a patient representative, Ms Rhodes played a significant role in shaping the new facility, contributing to decisions about its layout, furniture choices, colour schemes and artwork.
King Charles, who serves as royal patron of Macmillan Cancer Support, also spent time in the centre’s specially designed garden, where he planted a Macmillan rose alongside Colm Gough, the Macmillan personalised cancer care lead.
The royal family shared update on the monarch’s latest tour to Yorkshire on it’s official Instagram.
The King also visited a conservation initiative developed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), which aims to humanely control grey squirrel numbers and support the recovery of the UK’s red squirrel population.
At the APHA site, the monarch spent time and exchanged views with scientists and researchers working on a new oral contraceptive project designed to slow the growth of grey squirrel populations, which threaten both red squirrels and Britain’s native broadleaf woodlands.
2026-05-26 23:54:00
