King Charles III's cancer was 'caught early,' UK prime minister says

LONDON -- U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Tuesday that King Charles III's cancer was "caught early" and he would "continue to communicate with him as normal."

"He'll just be in our thoughts and our prayers. Many families around the country listening to this will have been touched by the same thing and they know what it means to everyone," Sunak told BBC radio. "So we'll just be willing him on and hopefully we get through this as quickly as possible."

Buckingham Palace announced Monday evening that the 75-year-old king was diagnosed with "a form of cancer" following a recent procedure to treat an enlarged prostate, which the palace said is unrelated. Charles has started "a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties," though he'll "continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual," according to the palace.

The palace has not specified the type of cancer, the stage of cancer or the type of treatment.

Charles personally told his two children and his three siblings about the cancer diagnosis, a royal source told ABC News. The king's younger son, Prince Harry, who along with his wife Meghan stepped back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family in 2020 and moved to California , "will be traveling to the U.K. to see His Majesty in the coming days," according to a spokesperson.

Charles' diagnosis comes less than 18 months into his reign as monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. He ascended the throne after the 2022 death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.