King Charles set for another overseas trip as he refuses to let cancer disrupt plans

The are to make a huge overseas trip later this month, it has been announced. The couple will visit Canada on May 26 and 27 in order to attend the State Opening of the Parliament in Ottawa, confirmed. The visit will be the 20th time that Charles has visited the country, however it will be the first time he has been there as King.

Charles is also Canada’s head of state and will be travelling to the country with his wife less than a month after former Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s Liberal Party election victory. Mr Carney’s rival, populist Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, was in the lead until US President took aim at Canada with a trade war and threats to annex the country as the 51st state.

Buckingham Palace said: "The King and Queen will visit Canada from Monday 26th to Tuesday 27th May. The King, accompanied by the Queen, will attend the state opening of the Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa."

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Charles and Camilla were due to visit Canada last spring, according to Canadian news outlets, but the trip was postponed because of the King’s cancer diagnosis.

It comes after the King, who is still having cancer treatement, was praised for being a "steadfast defender" of Canada by Mr Carney in the wake of the US’s threats to its economy and sovereignty.

After his election victory, the King welcomed the new Prime Minster to Buckingham Palace. Mr Carney former governor of the Bank of England, met Charles in the 1844 Room of the royal residence in London.

The King wore a red tie, perhaps a nod to the Canadian flag, and his Order of Canada pin, and was pictured grinning as he shook Mr Carney's hand, with the pair also sitting together in ornate chairs either side of the fireplace.

Charles brought up the importance of audiences between a monarch and a prime minister, telling Mr Carney: "I know these things are rather important."

The as the Prince of Wales met Mr Carney on a number of occasions during his tenure as Bank of England governor, including one-to-one audiences at Clarence House, and on a tour of the Bank including the gold vaults in 2016.

This was their first meeting since he became leader of the Liberal Party and Canada’s prime minister, in place of Justin Trudeau, and also the first time since Charles acceded to the throne.

The trip to Canada will come just weeks after the King and Queen visited Italy on a state visit, where they met the late Pope Francis. At the end of the visit, a palace official said: "He’s always supported Canada, there is nothing new in that. What could perhaps otherwise be simply be seen as normal expressions of support do seem to be being noticed a little more. But showing support for Canada is something he’s always done and that he will continue to do."