Buckingham Palace is planning for King Charles to potentially attend engagements involving more people from the end of the month, Sky News understands.
Image: The King attended an Easter service in Windsor on 31 March. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: PA
Since announcing his diagnosis in February he has been advised by doctors not to carry out public-facing engagements.
But it’s understood that officials, as part of normal forward planning, are now factoring in the possibility of the King meeting slightly larger groups of people from the end of April, into May.
It comes as the King welcomed the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey to Buckingham Palace, who presented him with the first bank notes featuring his portrait as monarch.
Image: The King with the first bank notes featuring his portrait, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Sarah John, the Bank’s chief cashier. Pic: PA
Image: The notes presented to the King on 9 April
It is traditional that the sovereign receives the first serial numbered notes of a print run of banknotes (effectively serial number 01). The Bank has now produced £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes.
The image of the King which appears on the notes is based on a portrait that was provided by the Palace to the Bank of England.
This was then turned into an engraving, and designers worked from this to create the image on the notes.
The notes will enter circulation on the 5 June, but the Royal Household has insisted this should only happen gradually.
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The new notes will only replace worn or damaged Queen Elizabeth II notes to minimise the financial and environmental impact of this change.
Image: Production of the new King Charles III £10 note. Pic: Bank of England
Image: The new £5 note features a portrait of King Charles III. Pic: Bank of England/PA
The fact that the palace is continuing to plan ahead for the King’s future engagements is nothing new, and there is obviously the caveat that things may have to change depending on his health.
Reports last week that the monarch still wants to push ahead with a trip to Australia and New Zealand at the end of the year to coincide with the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa is one example; the palace insists nothing has changed and that this has always been a possibility, depending on how he is.
Suggestions he may be well enough to start meeting larger groups is in no way confirmation of whether he will be able to attend any of the large traditional royal events this summer, such as Trooping the Colour, but it will be viewed by many as a positive sign about his health.
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The King has regularly welcomed individuals to Buckingham Palace for small audiences in recent weeks and has been carrying out his constitutional duties behind the scenes, alongside receiving treatment.
On Easter Sunday he surprised everyone by unexpectedly walking up to crowds outside Windsor Castle to shake hands and chat with those who’d come out to see the royal family.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.