King Charles stresses importance of kindness as he skips pre-Easter service amid cancer treatment

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III stressed the importance of friendship and acts of caring in a recorded message delivered to a traditional pre-Easter church service, which the monarch skipped as he undergoes cancer treatment. Queen Camilla represented her husband during the Royal Maundy Service at Worcester Cathedral, presenting bags of specially minted coins to people being honored for public service. The event is held every year on the Thursday before Easter, known as Maundy Thursday in Britain. While the message made no direct reference to the royals’ health problems, it marked the king’s first public comment since the Princess of Wales, his daughter-in-law, revealed she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.