King Charles established an immediate connection with cancer patients during a visit to a newly redeveloped facility at York Hospital.
The monarch was greeted enthusiastically by both patients and staff as he toured the site, which is soon to open as the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre.
Among those he met was Lou Rhodes, 49, who lives with stage 4 secondary breast cancer and played a crucial role in the centre’s design and development as a patient representative.
Ms Rhodes, from Hopgrove in York, said: “It was amazing, an absolute honour. A true honour.
“The King was just lovely, so personable, so friendly. I just seemed to connect with him straightaway.
“He’s got cancer, I’ve got cancer, and straightaway he sort of looked in my eyes, so you’ve got that bond I suppose.
“And I think he gets it, he understands, being a patient.”
Ms Rhodes, who lost her father to cancer, said: “My dad would have been so proud of us today.”
She said that after telling the King about her father’s death from cancer, he said: “There’s such a lot of it about.”
The King, royal patron of Macmillan Cancer Support, met people for whom the centre had been a lifeline during treatment and heard about their roles in shaping the new facility, including the services it will offer and its design, from the layout and the furniture to the colour schemes and the artwork.
He greeted Macmillan health professionals and cancer nurse specialists, who explained how the £2.4 million redevelopment would support thousands of people living with cancer in the region each year.
Charles also visited the centre’s purpose-built garden and planted a Macmillan rose with Colm Gough, Macmillan personalised cancer care lead, who is part of the team there.
As he left the hospital through the main reception, he was greeted with cheers from patients and staff waiting to see him, and stopped to talk to some.
Earlier in the day the King was praised for his “innate understanding that we need to be in harmony with nature”, as he visited a project aimed at promoting red squirrels by limiting their grey cousins’ numbers using contraceptives.
In sweltering temperatures close to 30C, Charles wore a light grey, pin-striped suit, pink shirt and darker pink tie as he met staff at the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s York Biotech Campus on Tuesday.
He talked to scientists and volunteers who explained the various stages of the project to develop a method of delivering oral contraceptives to grey squirrels through a feeding programme, as part of efforts to slow the rate of the species’ population growth and help endangered red squirrels to thrive.
The King was also shown round the large pens where dozens of squirrels are bred and kept for the project, but none of them ventured out of their boxes to greet the royal visitor in the intense heat.
Dr Julie Lane, head of the National Wildlife Management Centre at the APHA, told Charles: “What a wonderful day you’ve given us.
“You’ve been championing our red squirrels for decades now, which is why we’ve been so keen to show you the work we’ve been doing here at the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
“Without you, this work would not be happening at all.”
Dr Lane said: “Your leadership with respect to looking after our native species, we’re so grateful for.
“Plus, your innate understanding that we need to be in harmony with nature to protect our special species.”
The King was presented with a framed photograph of a red squirrel by field ecologist Erin Thomas, who said she took the picture herself at the Yorkshire Arboretum, at nearby Castle Howard.
He thanked Ms Thomas, saying “that’s fantastic”.
Speaking after, she said: “I’m happy he likes it. It’s just a hobby and I never thought this would happen.”
As he left the site, which is just outside the city of York, the King met other staff who told him they worked in the animal quarantine area.
“Lots of parrots,” one worker told him, to which the royal visitor replied: “It’s terrifying what people bring in.”
He said: “I couldn’t believe on a poster back there – racoons.”
The King asked whether they have to deal with snakes, and the staff replied that they were currently gearing up for this capacity.
Speaking after the visit, Dr Lane said: “He’s very interested in the work that we’re doing to provide an oral contraception, particularly because of his love for red squirrels.
“There are red squirrels in all counties, and we’ve shown with the work that we’re doing that, if you combine a contraceptive with standard control methods, that it’s much more effective, so you can get the levels of grey squirrels down much more effectively.”
Dr Lane said the King saw how the contraceptive, which is delivered using a hazelnut paste, was developed.
He also saw the work which is ongoing to perfect a trap, which will capture a grey squirrel but not other animals, including the reds.
Dr Lane said: “I think grey squirrels are our biggest threat to biodiversity in this country at the moment, because of the damage they do to trees.
“They are a massive threat to biodiversity.
“So, it’s not just about bringing the red squirrels back, it’s the whole of nature that the grey squirrels affect.”
