Prince William and George cheer on Aston Villa in first outing since Kate’s cancer announcement
By Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Max Foster, CNN
(CNN) — Prince William and Prince George were spotted watching their soccer team Aston Villa together on Thursday evening – their first sighting since the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnosis.
In a quintessentially British father-son bonding moment, the 41-year-old heir to the British throne cheered the side on along with his 10-year-old, sporting a Villa-branded scarf, at the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham.
The future kings will have been in high spirits after 90 minutes given the club’s 2-1 win over top-flight French side Lille in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarterfinal.
Many will see the heirs’ presence in the stands as a positive message that the family is adjusting well with the situation at home and royal-watchers will now be hoping to see the Prince of Wales out and about on engagements in the coming weeks.
Catherine revealed in a powerful video message on March 22 that she had started treatment after being diagnosed with cancer. The family of five then skipped attending the traditional Easter Sunday church service in Windsor.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson previously told CNN that the prince and princess had been “extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support” and were “grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”
While the Waleses were missed at the family occasion, King Charles III made a jubilant appearance at Easter – his most significant since his own cancer diagnosis – delighting fans with a surprise walkabout after the service. With the 75-year-old monarch looking so well, many have wondered in the two weeks since when he’ll appear next.
In his absence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh stepped in on Monday to help celebrate Anglo-French relations at a ceremony honoring the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
London and Paris signed the historic pact on April 8, 1904, ending centuries of warring and hostilities between the two. To mark the occasion, Edward and Sophie inspected troops from both nations in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.
Charles returned to private meetings this week, coming face to face with banknotes featuring his portrait for the first time. But some royal-watchers are looking ahead and musing over whether the monarch will be well enough to head to some of the flagship events on the horizon. Specifically, they are eyeing up the D-Day 80th anniversary ceremony in Normandy, France on June 6 or his birthday parade through central London a week later.
The King has felt frustrated at not being able to maintain his regular schedule of public interactions and was clearly in his element shaking hands and chatting with well-wishers on Easter Sunday. That was hardly surprising as it’s in these moments we’ve often seen him most at ease when he’s able to connect with people on walkabouts.
His Easter outing was seen as a roaring success but our understanding is that the King was merely testing the waters rather than signaling the start of a return to public duties.
There have not been any changes to any palace guidance on future engagements. At this stage, we understand that nothing has been ruled in or out and that occasions will be looked at on a case-by-case basis taking medical advice into account.
One trip the King did manage to get sign-off from doctor’s on was an escape to Scotland for a very special occasion. With the couple’s marriage entering its 20th year on Tuesday, it was reported that Charles and Camilla had snuck away to Birkhall on the Balmoral estate for their wedding anniversary.
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