Queen Camilla has revealed her husband King Charles is "doing very well" amid his treatment for cancer.
The royal, 76, is on a solo two-day trip to Northern Ireland and made the admission to well-wishers as she stopped by The Arcadia deli in Belfast.
Shop assistant Brenda Robb handed over a get-well card for the monarch and extended her best wishes. Taking the card with thanks, Camilla said: "He's doing very well. He was very disappointed he couldn't come."
Responding to a quip about men "not being the best patients," she added: "I try to keep him in order."
© GettyCharles, 75, had originally been scheduled to travel to Northern Ireland with his wife, but since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, he has postponed public-facing appearances.
The Queen, who last visited the region in May 2023 with the King shortly after the coronation, decided to plough on with the trip herself, continuing with elements of her own programme.
On Thursday morning, as well as visiting the delicatessen, where she was given a selection of their charcuterie, cheese, and local meats, Camilla visited two other family-run shops on the bustling Lisburn Road: Coffey's Butcher, which has been operating since 1929, and Knotts Bakery.
She met business owners and staff who showed her their favourite foods and was given bags of local produce to take home to the King.
© GettyAt the butchers, the Queen was introduced to some of the three generations of the family who run it, remarking: "My gosh there are a lot of you!"
Inspecting the meat counter, she said: "My goodness me, what a great selection," and asked: "All of these are locally sourced? What do you sell the most of?"
"It's wonderful, it's all very tempting. It's lovely to see you thriving," she added.
Camilla was handed some of the shop's specialities, including vegetable rolls, beef sausages, and Belfast pickle. "I shall take these back to my husband, he will really make the most of them," she said.
© GettyAt Knotts Bakery, the royal was told about its traditional Ulster baking methods with no machinery involved. The family business employs 120 people. She was given a fruit loaf and iced madeira, which she joked she couldn't promise to take home to the King. "She said she'd eat some of them on the way home," said co-owner William Corrie, 38.
Mr Corrie welcomed Camilla alongside his wife, former Miss Northern Ireland and Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon, and their one-year-old son Fitz, who stole the show in his tuxedo. "We have a natural for the cameras," she announced, grinning as she watched him.
© GettyLater that day, Camilla returned to her royal residence, Hillsborough Castle in County Down, where she had stayed the night before. A bugler from the Hillsborough Ford Guard had played to mark her arrival.
For her final engagement of the day – the Queen also took the salute at a military parade in her role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles between her Lisburn Road visit and heading back to the castle – Camilla attended an event hosted by The Queen's Reading Room charity.
At the event held to celebrate World Poetry Day and titled Northern Ireland: Poets and Their Place, she met authors and actors, and watched spoken-word performances by Derry Girls star Ian McElhinney, actress Frances Tomelty, and contemporary poet Michael Longley.
Camilla has long been passionate about literature and in January 2021, she launched The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room Instagram account, a space for book lovers to communicate and see her recommendations, under her previous title.
© GettyThe Queen had flown into Northern Ireland from the Isle of Man where she spent Wednesday afternoon conferring city status to the capital, Douglas. During a walkabout outside Douglas Borough Council, she was introduced to 38-year-old mother Rachael Hughes and her 15-week-old twin boys Louie and Oliver.
"I have a Louis grandson… quite a handful," Camilla admitted to Ms Hughes, referring to her grandson Louis Lopes, one of the twin sons of her daughter Laura Lopes. Camilla is also grandmother to Louis' twin Guy, and 13-year-old Frederick, the son of Tom Parker Bowles.
She is also step-grandmother to Prince William and Kate's children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and Prince Harry and Meghan's son and daughter, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Ms Hughes said: "[She] asked their names and said it gets easier when they are two. It was so lovely to see her. She is doing a great job and she looks fabulous."
Camilla has been holding the royal fort while her husband continues with his treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. Charles has been quietly and diligently focusing on his paperwork and daily government red boxes, as well as carrying out private, small-scale audiences and meetings at Buckingham Palace.
On Thursday while his wife was in Northern Ireland, the King held audiences with new high commissioners from Tanzania and Singapore. He first met Mbelwa Kairuki at Buckingham Palace for the formal ceremony welcoming Tanzania's top diplomat based in the UK. Later, he was introduced to Singapore's high commissioner to the UK, Ng Teck Hean, who was joined by his wife, Mok Ling Ling.
The King also held his regular weekly audience with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.
And earlier this week on Tuesday, Charles met four British veterans of the Korean War in the palace's 18th Century Room and was pictured in good spirits chatting to them. His sister Princess Anne and sister-in-law Duchess Sophie hosted a larger-scale reception at the palace's Bow Room for 200 war veterans on his behalf, to belatedly commemorate 70 years since the end of the Korean War.
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