The King has given a rare update on his health as he joked with hospital patients on an official royal visit.

The monarch visited Birmingham on Wednesday (British time), on a trip to the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital that was postponed from March after he became ill during his ongoing cancer treatment.

He was there to officially open a medical centre and meet staff, patients and volunteers. Among those he met was patient Matthew
Shinda, who asked the King about his recovery from an unspecified cancer diagnosed in February 2024.

“I’m not too bad,” the 76-year-old monarch said.

The BBC reported that Shinda, who is being treated for prostate cancer, told the King of delays in being diagnosed.

“I’m very sorry about that, it’s so frustrating,” the King said.

“Half the problem is detecting it, isn’t it? In time.

“The great thing, I think, is they’re getting better and better at dealing with these things. The trouble is, there’s always hope down the road.”

When Shinda’s daughter said her father “likes his malts”, the King joked about having a drink in hospital.

“Do they allow you a tiny dram of whisky occasionally?” he said.

“I knew I should have brought one.”

He also claimed it was “supposed to be very good for the heart”.

Elsewhere, the King spoke about the challenges of getting older, with 85-year-old Jacqueline Page telling him she was “wearing out”.

“That’s the terrible thing I’m discovering – bits don’t work so well when you get past 70,” he said with a chuckle.

The King, who turns 77 in November, is still being treated for his cancer. Buckingham Palace has clarified only that is is not prostate cancer.

He has previously said the condition had reinforced how “the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion”.

The King curtailed his royal duties for several months after his diagnosis, and has gradually returned to a more normal schedule. In March, he was briefly hospitalised due to “temporary” side effects from a scheduled cancer treatment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here a few months ago,” he told staff at the Birmingham hospital on Wednesday.

The visit came amid continued reports the King and his estranged son Prince Harry may soon meet for the first time in almost two years.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, will be in London next week for a charity event that coincides with the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

The Daily Mirror reported that recent discussions between Buckingham Palace officials and Harry’s team had raised hopes of a private meeting.

“Nobody is pretending the wider family issues have been resolved, but this is about beginning with Charles and Harry,” a US source said.

“For the first time in a long time, there’s a genuine sense that reconciliation is within reach.

“Prince Harry’s team and the palace have opened a line of communication, and there is every hope that father and son will see one another in September.

“After months apart, and with the King continuing his treatment, the feeling is that the time is right to take that step.”

The source said the encounter was likely to be “a simple face-to-face conversation between a father and a son”, rather than “a grand gesture or set-piece meeting”.

However, the Mirror said a reconciliation with Harry’s brother Prince William was unlikely. Another source told the Mirror the idea of the Prince of Wales, 43, reuniting with his younger brother had been “rejected out of hand”.

Harry’s wife Meghan Markle is expected to remain in California with the couple’s children, Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.