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He said this week that the many ‘wonderful’ cards and messages of support he has received since his cancer diagnosis had moved him to tears.
What King Charles didn’t say is that they are sometimes of laughter.
A new set of images released by Buckingham Palace shows His Majesty giggling at a card featuring a dog wearing a veterinary collar and the words ‘At least you don’t have to wear a cone!’
The large £6.29 card by British online firm Moonpig, was said by aides to have ‘provoked much royal mirth’.
Details of its sender have not been revealed, but the King has always owned dogs and is currently ‘step-dog father’ to his wife, Queen Camilla’s, two Battersea Dogs and Cats Home rescues, Beth and Bluebell.
It is one of more than 7,000 letters and cards wishing the monarch well that have so far been received by Buckingham Palace since his diagnosis just over two weeks ago.
The King has been so touched by the out-pouring of good wishes that the royal household decided to release a new set of images showing him looking at some of his correspondence.
A sweet video has also been made featuring the King smiling and chuckling to himself as he reads through the cards.
The social media post on royal.uk channels also shows postbags of correspondence being carried in by staff, who then open some of the letters and cards.
Viewers can see a rare glimpse of the inside of the King’s red box, lined in black, which is then filled with letters, as well as cutaways to some of the most moving messages.
They were shot ahead of his audience with the Prime Minister on Wednesday this week.
Seated in the 18th Century Room of The Belgian Suite at Buckingham Palace, part of his private suite of rooms, the King, 75, looked tired around the eyes, no doubt as a result of his treatment, but nonetheless cheered by the sight.
Many of them have come from children who have sent in painstakingly hand-drawn, brightly-coloured cards with sweet personal messages, which are said to have ‘touched His Majesty, greatly’.
The King remarked in a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday that many of the cards had ‘reduced me to tears’.
Among those shown on camera is a tender message from one child, who gave His Majesty some advice on how to cope during treatment.
‘Never give up. Be brave. Don’t push your limits. Get Well Soon,’ they wrote.
Some of the cards from children were adorned with bright colours to lighten Charles’s mood.
One piece of correspondence had a hand drawn rainbow from the child author, while on the other side there was a sweet message of ‘Get well soon’ written underneath a multi-coloured crown.
Another message from one well-wisher added: ‘King Charles, sorry to hear you are not feeling well at the moment. I am wishing you a speedy recovery. Get Well Soon.’
The King has also received messages from adults, some of whom revealed their own deeply personal experiences of going through times of trouble and expressed their whole-hearted support for His Majesty.
‘I wanted to tell you I am thinking of you as you face your own diagnosis and treatment and send prayers and every good wish for a speedy recovery’, one wrote.
Another who had been through trying situations urged Charles to keep his ‘chin up, chest out, remain positive and don’t let it get you down’.
‘Trust me, it works, but the main thing is family,’ they added.
A senior royal aide said: ‘They have been a source of frequent laughter and good cheer.’
Staff have taken to putting a small selection in his red box of official papers each day to cheer His Majesty up.
Others are said to be deeply moving, with people sharing their own personal experiences of living with cancer.
A short video, released to social media tonight, contained a message which read: ‘Following the announcement of the King’s cancer diagnosis, the Correspondence Team at Buckingham Palace have received more than 7,000 letters and cards form across the world. The King has been sent a selection in his daily red box of paperwork. Many share their own experience with cancer. Others offer good wishes and advice for a speedy recovery.
‘To everyone who took the time to write, THANK YOU. As His Majesty has said, ‘such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement’.’
As ever, where postal addresses have been provided in correspondence to is Majesty, a response of thanks will be sent by Buckingham Palace.
It is understood that the outpouring of goodwill for the King has seen the palace ‘groaning’ under the weight of mail sacks, which staff are still going through.
The royal household has also seen updates about the King’s health attract more than 100 million views on social media.
This week the King met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the first time since his diagnosis, telling him: ‘I’ve had so many wonderful messages and cards. It’s reduced me to tears most of the time.’
Mr Sunak reassured him that ‘we’re all behind you, the country is behind you’, and added that it was ‘wonderful to see you looking so well.’ In typical good humour, the King jokingly replied: ‘Well, it’s all done by mirrors, really.’
He also said he was greatly heartened by the renewed attention on many of the country’s main cancer charities as a result of his openness about his condition.
The King spoke of his admiration for cancer charities, telling Mr Sunak: ‘I hear there has been a lot more potential attention on those main, wonderful cancer charities, many of which I have been a patron of for years.’
The Prime Minister responded: ‘They do incredible work up and down the country.’
The King is currently coming into London once a week for outpatient treatment and meetings before retiring to Sandringham, his Norfolk estate, for recuperation.
Last month he underwent an operation to treat a benign enlarged prostate.
It was during this surgery that doctors discovered an unrelated condition that concerned them.
Tests later showed it was cancer.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that it is not prostate cancer but has not issued further details of the king’s condition.
