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UK's King Charles Cancels Appointments after Cancer Treatment 'Side Effects'

King Charles met well wishers on a visit to Northern Ireland last week. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
King Charles met well wishers on a visit to Northern Ireland last week. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
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UK's King Charles Cancels Appointments after Cancer Treatment 'Side Effects'

King Charles met well wishers on a visit to Northern Ireland last week. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
King Charles met well wishers on a visit to Northern Ireland last week. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Britain's King Charles III on Thursday was forced to cancel his appointments for the rest of the day and Friday after suffering "side effects" from his cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace said.

"Following scheduled and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, the king experienced temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital," the statement said.

"His Majesty's afternoon engagements were therefore postponed," the statement added, saying that the 78-year-old UK head of state had since returned to his home in Clarence House.

"As a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow's (Friday's) diary program will also be rescheduled."

The king had experienced temporary and relatively common side effects, the BBC reported, quoting sources, adding that it had been a very minor bump in his recovery.

The king was said to be on good form at home where he was working on state papers and making calls from his study, the PA news agency added.

Charles, who walked most of his life in the shadow of his mother, the nation's beloved Queen Elizabeth II, became king after her death on September 8, 2022.

In a break with the palace's past silence on personal health matters, Charles, however, decided to go public with his cancer diagnosis in February 2024.

But he has never revealed what kind of cancer he is suffering from, with the palace just confirming that his treatment would continue into 2025.

'Apologies'

Buckingham Palace on Thursday said that the monarch "would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result".

Charles had been due to receive the credentials from the ambassadors of three different countries on Thursday, and had four engagements planned on Friday during a trip to Birmingham.

Charles's coronation in May 2023 as monarch of the United Kingdom and 14 Commonwealth countries was the first in Britain in seven decades.

It also saw his long-time love and his wife of almost 20 years crowned as Queen Camilla -- a once-unthinkable scenario after Charles's first marriage to Princess Diana collapsed in acrimony and scandal.

It is understood that Charles and Camilla's scheduled trip to Italy in early April will go ahead as planned.

No new dates have been confirmed yet after they postponed a planned meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican following the advice of the pontiff's doctors. The meeting had also been scheduled for the start of the April trip.

The UK's head of state wrote to Francis when the 88-year-old pontiff was struck down with pneumonia in both lungs in February, amid fears that he might not survive.

Francis was discharged on Sunday following almost 40 days in Rome's Gemelli hospital.

'Transparent'

Charles returned to work within two and a half months of his cancer diagnosis and gradually ramped up his duties during the rest of 2024, including making several foreign trips which even took him as far as Australia and Samoa.

The king's daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, who is married to Charles's eldest son Prince William, in January said that she was now in remission after also having been diagnosed with cancer last year.

Buckingham Palace previously said the king wished to be transparent about his cancer diagnosis to "prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer".

That has chimed with his desire for a more modern, open and slimmed down monarchy to keep the ancient institution relevant, particularly to younger Britons, and as republican sentiment mounts in the 14 other countries outside the UK where he is also king.

But a rift with his youngest son Harry and his wife Meghan has blighted the start of Charles's reign.

Harry's score-settling in his autobiography "Spare" and a Netflix series grabbed headlines.

And the prince has only rarely seen his father since he dramatically quit royal duties for a new life in the United States with his wife and young son in 2020.

As well as being head of the Church of England, Charles also heads the 56-nation Commonwealth grouping, which comprises about a quarter of the world's population.

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Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)

Susan de Meyer's horses have different effects on different children. Hyperactive kids learn to be a little quieter around them while nonverbal children are moved to communicate and to bond with them.

De Meyer runs a program in the southern African country of Namibia that harnesses the power but also the gentleness of horses to help children with learning disabilities and conditions like ADHD and autism.

Each weekday morning, de Meyer's dusty paddock just outside the capital, Windhoek, is enlivened by a group of eight to 10 children from one of the special schools she helps. The children ride the horses, groom them, stroke them and often, de Meyer says, talk to them.

De Meyer grew up on a farm surrounded by horses and they've always been part of her life. She said they have a quality that is invaluable: They don't judge the children, no matter how different they are.

"The horse is the hero in this whole situation because these kids don’t want to be around a lot of people," de Meyer said.

De Meyer's program, "Enabling Through the Horse," is supported by the Namibian Equestrian Federation and won an award last year from the International Equestrian Federation because it "underlines the wonderful characteristics of the horse in exuding sensitivity and intuition."

Horse therapy has been promoted by autism groups and those that work with children with learning disabilities as having a positive impact. And animal therapy in general has been found to be useful in many instances, like dogs that help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and therapy cats that are taken to hospitals and nursing homes.

Some survivors of the devastating 2023 Hawaii wildfires found relief in horse therapy while grieving loved ones they had lost.

De Meyer jokes she has "two-and-a-half horses." These include two Arabians — a white mare named Faranah and a brown gelding, Lansha — while the "half" is a miniature horse called Bonzi, who is about head-high for a 5-year-old.

The Arabians are often the most useful for the children's therapy because of their size, de Meyer said.

"It gives them self-esteem. When they stroke the horse, the therapy starts because this is a very big animal compared to their height, and they are not scared to stroke the horse ... and then to ride it and tell the horse what they want," she said.

De Meyer works with children with a range of conditions or disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, those who are nonverbal or touch sensitive, and some who were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and have developmental problems.

She has received interest from other countries in Africa and Asia to start similar programs there.

"The changes that I’ve seen with the learners are significant," said Chriszell Louw, a teacher at Dagbreek School, which says it is one of just two government schools in Namibia for children with intellectual disabilities. "We have a learner that likes to talk a lot. When we come here, she knows she has to keep quiet. She sits in her place."

"Some of them you see they are more open, they are happy. Some of them were very scared when they started with the horse riding but now they are very excited. When they hear we’re going to the horses they are very excited and just want to go by themselves," Louw said.

De Meyer said her program helps with fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, muscle strengthening, coordination, balance and posture, all important for kids who struggle to sit at a desk at school and learn.

One simple exercise de Meyer has children do when they ride is to let go of the reins and stretch their arms out straight and to the sides, using only their torso and lower body to balance as a groom leads the horse around the paddock.

Some of the kids break out in smiles when they let go and look like they're soaring.

"We make the world different for these kids," de Meyer said.