LONDON: King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, rested at their homes on Monday after both left hospital following separate surgeries, in a double health scare for Britain’s royal family.

Head-of-state Charles, 75, left the private London Clinic three days after undergoing prostate surgery.

The monarch, dressed in a suit and a black overcoat, waved to crowds as he and Queen Camilla, 76, emerged from the central London facility and got into a waiting car.

His departure came hours after Kensington Palace announced that his daughter-in-law Catherine — whose husband is heir to the throne Prince William — had also left the clinic after undergoing abdominal surgery earlier this month.

It is unclear when exactly the 42-year-old princess was discharged but her office said that she was making “good progress” at home at the start of a recuperation that could last months.

The pair’s absence has created a frontline staffing shortage within the already slimmed-down monarchy, with William also postponing public engagements to be at his wife’s side and Camilla left as the most visible working royal.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024