King Charles and Kate back home after surgeries

LONDON: King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, rested at their homes on Monday after both left hospital following separate surgeries, in a double health scare for Britain´s royal family.

Head-of-state Charles, 75, left the private London Clinic three days after undergoing prostate surgery.

The monarch, dressed in a suit and a black overcoat, waved to crowds as he and Queen Camilla, 76, emerged from the central London facility and got into a waiting car.

His departure came hours after Kensington Palace announced that his daughter-in-law Catherine -- whose husband is heir to the throne Prince William -- had also left the clinic after undergoing abdominal surgery earlier this month.

It is unclear when exactly the 42-year-old princess was discharged but her office said that she was making “good progress” at home at the start of a recuperation that could last months.

The pair´s absence has created a frontline staffing shortage within the already slimmed-down monarchy, with William also postponing public engagements to be at his wife´s side and Camilla left as the most visible working royal.Charles, who became king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2022, has generally enjoyed good health, barring injuries from polo and skiing.

The palace announced on January 17 that he would have a “corrective procedure” for the benign enlarged prostate the following week, and he was admitted to the clinic last Friday.