Prince William expressed his appreciation to the public for the well wishes sent to his family following the news of King Charles' cancer diagnosis.
Days after Buckingham Palace announced Feb. 5 that tests detected “a form of cancer” in Charles, 75, William attended a fundraising dinner to support London's Air Ambulance Charity.
"I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all," he said while giving a speech at the dinner, which was held on Feb. 7, regarding his father's diagnosis and his wife's surgery.
"It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather “medical” focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all!" he joked.
In January, the king underwent a hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, when “separate issue of concern” was found by doctors and subsequent tests identified a form of cancer, per palace officials. There was no specification as to what type of cancer he has.
Palace officials previously confirmed that King Charles had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate.
William's wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, was also in the hospital in January for a planned abdominal surgery and has since returned home to recover, royal officials previously said in a statement.
The palace source told NBC News that the 42-year-old princess will likely be recuperating for two to three months and is “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”
The princess’s condition is noncancerous, a Kensington Palace source also confirmed to NBC News.
King Charles' youngest son, Prince Harry, arrived in London on Feb. 6, the day after Buckingham Palace released the news of the cancer was made public. A spokesperson for the palace confirmed to NBC News that the king personally told his sons about his diagnosis.
“That’s the first time he will have seen his father in any meaningful way, really since the queen’s funeral,” Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkhah said on TODAY. “He was here for the coronation, but we know he didn’t really see his father.”
