The King’s cancer diagnosis feels a world away after trip to Italy with the Queen

10/04/2025

The King and Queen were doing a walkabout in the Italian city of Ravenna and it felt like a world away from last year.

It was chaos, and in the middle of it, a man still having cancer treatment.

If you remember this time 12 months ago, he wasn’t even allowed out on full public engagements. Now he was in the middle of what can only be described as a scrum.

Security, the Italian president’s entourage and members of the royal team all jostling with the locals, as the royal couple tasted traditional food and tried to watch a dance display.

I suspect the King and Queen will have loved it. I’ve been on so many engagements and royal tours before where they enjoy nothing more than getting stuck in, meeting as many people as possible – it must be a nightmare for their police as the royal pair go rogue.

But the fact it was only two weeks ago the palace told us the King had suffered side effects from his cancer treatment, and had to cancel a trip to Birmingham, made it particularly surprising to see him right in the middle of the melee.

After a busy political day on Wednesday – with no doubt a personal highlight thrown in with their last-minute meeting with the Pope – Thursday’s trip to Ravenna was all about the really soft touch stuff, when it comes to their diplomatic duties.

Ravenna, with a museum for English poet Lord Byron and being the site of the tomb of the renowned Italian writer Dante Alighieri, was the perfect location to celebrate the UK and Italy’s literary links.

And as they stepped out on to the balcony of the town hall with Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella and his daughter, there was no greater nod to a shared history, as they celebrated allied troops liberating the region of Ravenna 80 years ago to the day.

The UK’s ambassador, Lord Llewellyn, at the start of the week had almost laid out his wishlist of hopes for the trip, talking about the intangible yet priceless impact the visit would have.

The fact a woman in the crowd wanted to talk to me about how impressed she was with the King’s speech in the Italian parliament, especially the parts he read in Italian, would certainly raise a smile within UK government circles.