The King joked that he would need technology training after attempting to operate anew surgical robotat a cancer centre.
The monarch, who has been receiving treatment for cancer for more than two years, met staff and patients at the cancer centre at Guy’s Hospital in London on Monday.
Raymond Burgess, 69, from south London, described how hischemotherapyleft him with a bad taste in his mouth, prompting the King to sympathise: “It’s an awful sort of metallic taste. It doesn’t exactly help with eating.”
During his visit, the King was given a step-by-step presentation of the new fifth-generation Da Vinci Surgical System, which enables smaller and more precise incisions during bladder surgery.
The robot, which is used by the NHS, can significantly reduce patient operating and recovery times because of its precision.
The King took a seat to look through a headset while controlling the robotic hands on an operating table behind him.
On display was a small model of the internal bladder and a £5 note, the tiny text on which was used to illustrate the high magnifications possible.
Prof Ben Challacombe, a consultant urological surgeon, explained that the technology was so precise it would allow him to see things that the human eye could not.
Placing his fingers into the controls, the King struggled at first to get to grips with the mechanism, saying: “I think I need more practice. I’ll have to come back after some more training.”
Prof Challacombe replied: “We’ll have to get you back for a full immersive course.”
The King asked many questions in the laboratory. Told that the doctors now use AI in their work with cancer, he asked: “What proportion of the time is it right? Because it’s not always right.”
In the Chemotherapy Village, the King met patients who could benefit from the technological advances.
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Mr Burgess told him: “All the staff have been fantastic, all so welcoming and lovely. It’s very comfortable here. Just can’t taste anything, apart from lemons and limes mostly.”
Another patient, who did not want to be named, explained that she had taken her laptop into the centre to carry on working while wearing a cold cap for her breast cancer treatment.
The monarch told her: “That’s extraordinary. Very brave. I wish you all the best.”
On leaving, the King greeted a crowd of more than 150 people, shaking hands with patients as he wished them luck with their treatment.
Prof Challacombe said after the visit: “He was very interested in what this could do in terms of improving outcomes for patients.
“So I told him about decreased pain and scars and decreased length of stay, and he actually used the phrase to me, ‘This seems much more minimally invasive than the surgery that I’ve previously heard of’, which was nice.
“I could see he was speaking from the point of view of having been through treatment himself.”
The King was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February 2024, after being treated in hospital for an enlarged prostate.
In December, he revealed the“good news”that the weekly treatment he had endured for almost two years was being scaled back.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said at the time: “His Majesty has responded exceptionally well to treatment and his doctors advise that ongoing measures will now move into a precautionary phase.”
Since his diagnosis, the King has been “greatly encouraged” by the outpouring of public support he has received and has gone on to make cancer awareness a cornerstone of his public work.
When he returned to public duties for the first time since his diagnosis, he chose to visit the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, chatting with fellow patients, and sympathising with them about the side effects of treatment and the initial shock of diagnosis.
He has repeatedly called for more people to be tested early, extolling the benefits of early diagnosis.
