The King’s nephew Peter Phillips has said Charles is “frustrated” that his recovery is taking longer than “he would want it to”.

The son of the Princess Royal said the King was “in good spirits”, but was “pushing” his staff to be able to return to his duties after beginning treatment for cancer last month.

In a televised interview, Phillips told Sky News Australia: “I think ultimately he’s hugely frustrated.

“He’s frustrated that he can’t get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do.

“But he is very pragmatic, he understands that there’s a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself.

“But at the same time he is always pushing his staff and everybody – his doctors and nurses – to be able to say ‘actually can I do this, can I do that?'”

The King has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since early February after he was treated for an enlarged prostate. On Friday the Princess of Wales revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

“I think the overriding message would be that he’s obviously very keen to get back to a form of normality and is probably frustrated that recovery is taking a little longer than probably he would want it to,” Phillips said.

The son of Princess Anne, 73, and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, said during the interview on Australian television that his mother “leaves others to worry about column inches”.

“I think in the past she has not always been the media’s favourite so to speak. But she’s never really let that bother her,” he said.

“She just keeps her head down the whole time and keeps working away and leaves others to worry about column inches.”

The eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II added that it was “pretty remarkable” that his mother was still carrying out overseas trips in her 70s.

Phillips said the “work ethic” of his parents had been hugely influential for him and his sister Zara Tindall.

“Both of them are incredibly hard working and both in their 70s they’re still working a lot harder than either of them probably expected,” he said.

“But then as my mother always says – from that perspective, they had pretty good role models from my grandparents, who were still working in their 90s.

“Everyone has a huge amount to live up to and ultimately they all live by example.”

He added that Anne “really valued” her home time to be able “to relax and just get to some form of normality”.

Phillips was on a visit to Australia to represent the International Foundation for Arts and Culture.

He said the royal family had a “huge affinity” with Australia, adding “all of us have friends over here”.

Kate and William ‘extremely moved’

Kate and her husband, Prince William, are said to be “extremely moved” by the public’s warmth and support following her shocking cancer announcement as tributes continue to pour in from around the world.

After weeks of frenzied speculation on social media about her health and well-being, Kate said in a candid video message on Friday that she is having chemotherapy for cancer following major abdominal surgery.

The 42-year-old princess said the cancer discovery was a “huge shock” and she was now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy.

“The prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message,” a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said on Sunday.

“They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”

There has been a global outpouring of support, including from US President Joe Biden, and the King.

Buckingham Palace released a statement on Saturday saying the monarch was in the “closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law” as they both endured their health crises.

“His Majesty is ‘so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did’,” the palace said.

Neither Kate nor the King have revealed what type of cancer they have nor the stage at which it was being treated.

People have flocked to the Waleses’ main London residence, Kensington Palace, as well as to Windsor Castle, where they spend most of their time, to show support for the princess, with many leaving flowers.

Until Friday, officials had said only that Kate’s surgery in January was successful and recuperation would keep her from public duties until April.

That sparked a flurry of rumour-mongering about the “missing” future queen, compounded after Kate acknowledged that she altered an official photo released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK earlier this month.

The photo, meant to reassure the public, triggered a backlash after The Associated Press and other news agencies retracted it amid manipulation concerns.

Even a video published last week by The Sun and TMZ that appeared to show Kate and William shopping near their home did not dispel the negative coverage.

Criticism of those jumping to sometime-outlandish conclusions continued to be voiced over the weekend.

Paddy Harverson, previously an official spokesman for the prince and princess, said the speculation and pressure around Kate’s health and whereabouts before her video statement was “the worst I’ve ever seen.”

However, he said he thought Kate would have revealed her cancer diagnosis exactly as she had, regardless of what was being speculated.

“I’m absolutely convinced that if we hadn’t had all the madness and social media, if we hadn’t had the sort of the Mother’s Day photo mistake, they would have still done it like this,” he told the BBC.

“They would have still waited till this last Friday when the schools are breaking up to make the announcement.”

Kate and William’s three children – George, Charlotte and Louis – are on Easter holidays until April 17.

-with AAP