Prince William made his first public appearance since King Charles III’s cancer announcement and Kate Middleton’s hospitalization for abdominal surgery. The 41-year-old future king expressed gratitude at a charity gala, thanking the public for their “kind messages of support” while acknowledging the recent challenges. Earlier that day, he led an investiture at Windsor Castle.
In a lighter moment, he joked, “The past few weeks have been, shall we say, medically focused, so I figured I’d come to an air ambulance function to escape it all.” The queen, once an air ambulance pilot herself, attended the event, mingling with other pilots and celebrities like Tom Cruise.