LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s King Charles will host Japanese Emperor Naruhito and his wife for a state visit at the end of June, Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday (local time), providing details of their three-day trip in the latest indication of the monarch’s health after a cancer diagnosis.
Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, will be welcomed by heir to the throne, Prince William, on June 25, ahead of a state banquet hosted by Charles, his wife Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace.
It will be the first state visit made by Charles, 75, since he returned to work in late April, nearly three months after Buckingham Palace announced he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.
Although William is included in the state visit, his wife Kate has not been mentioned in Buckingham Palace’s travel plans as she continues her preventive chemotherapy regime for cancer.
During the visit, the monarch will visit Westminster Abbey, inspect a guard of honour, visit the UK’s main biomedical research centre, the Francis Crick Institute, and visit St George’s Chapel in Windsor to lay a wreath at the grave of Queen Elizabeth II, the King’s Mother.
Buckingham Palace first announced the Japanese state visit in April.
(Reporting by Sarah Young)
