King returns to Sandringham before prostate procedure

The King has returned to Sandringham, ready to undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate next week.

Charles, 75, flew back from Scotland with the Queen on Friday and was seen travelling to his private residence in Norfolk.

He has spent the past week in the sanctuary of Birkhall on the Balmoral estate, but received his diagnosis on Wednesday, having had a check-up after experiencing symptoms.

The King, who has cancelled engagements and been ordered to rest, will be admitted to hospital in the coming days for a corrective procedure for the benign condition.

Buckingham Palace, in an unprecedented double royal health scare, announced the news just 90 minutes after Kensington Palace revealed the Princess of Wales was in hospital after abdominal surgery.

Camilla insisted the King was “fine” and “looking forward to getting back to work” when she visited an art gallery in Aberdeen on Thursday.

The Queen will carry on with her royal duties on Monday, visiting one of Swindon’s oldest family-run businesses – Deacon & Son Jewellers – in Wiltshire.

Meanwhile, Kate was spending her fourth day in hospital after being visited by the Prince of Wales on Thursday.

The princess, 42, is expected to remain in the private London Clinic for 10-14 days, and has been ordered to take up to three months to recuperate.

She is not expected to return to royal duties until after Easter, and William has cleared his diary and temporarily stepped back from his royal role to look after their children and care for Kate.

It is understood the King was keen to share his diagnosis to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked.

NHS England said the “enlarged prostate” page on the NHS website received one visit every five seconds on the day of the announcement.

It had 26,170 visits in 48 hours, including another 9,760 visits on Thursday, compared with a daily average of 1,400 visits earlier in the week.

One in every three men over the age of 50 will have symptoms of an enlarged prostate including needing to visit the toilet more frequently, with more urgency and have difficulty emptying their bladder.

An enlarged prostate does not usually pose a serious threat to health, and it is not cancer.

But the charity Prostate Cancer UK has also seen a big rise in the number of people using its online risk checker with 8,025 risk checks on Thursday, of which 6,800 were noted as high risk.

The figures represent an increase of 101% on the previous day (3,993), and up 139% on the previous week.