King Charles releases personal at-home photo as he delivers Easter message

King Charles and Queen Camilla's Easter plans were just confirmed, and the King, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, released a photo of himself recording a heartfelt message for the occasion from his London home.

Audio of his speech will be broadcast in his absence at a Royal Maundy service in Worcester Cathedral on Thursday, where the Queen will represent him.

Speaking in his first public address since his "beloved" daughter-in-law Princess Kate revealed she is undergoing chemotherapy, the monarch will emphasise the importance of kindness in his heartfelt message.

The King will talk about how Jesus set an "example of how we should serve and care for each other," and say that as a nation "we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need".

Charles was photographed recording the message earlier this month, and the picture shows him in good spirits as he sits at his desk in Buckingham Palace’s 18th Century Room.

In front of him is a vase filled with spring flowers and two microphones ready to capture his words. The Royal Maundy service commemorates Jesus's Last Supper when he washed the feet of his disciples as an act of humility the day before Good Friday.

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This year, Camilla will present 75 women and 75 men – signifying the King’s age – with two purses, one red and one white, filled with Maundy money.

Although he has stepped back from large-scale public duties while receiving treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer, which was discovered after he had a procedure on his enlarged prostate in January, the King issued another heartfelt statement after the Princess of Wales revealed her diagnosis last Friday.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that His Majesty is "so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did".

HELLO! understands that following their time in hospital together – both Charles and Kate were treated at The London Clinic earlier this year – the King has "remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks".

Both Charles and Camilla "will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time".

Princess Kate shared a personal and powerful video message, filmed in Windsor by BBC Studios, in which she shared that she has started her first round of preventative chemotherapy.

Her abdominal surgery in January had been successful and at the time, it was thought that her condition was non-cancerous. However, tests after the operation found that cancer had been present.

Following her announcement, the mum-of-three's official social media accounts were flooded with messages of support and the royal shared how moved she was by the public reaction.

Similarly, the King shared last month that he had been reduced to tears by the messages and cards of support he received from well-wishers. In his first outing since Kate's video was released, the monarch was seen travelling to London from Windsor Castle in his car on Tuesday morning.