INDIA: King Charles and Queen Camilla made a stopover in India on the way back from their royal tour to Australia and Samoa. According to a Reuters report, the royal couple made a stop in Bengaluru to visit the Soukya International Holistic Health Centre.
The couple have been to India several times and have been known to visit wellness centres in the country as well. The Ayurvedic retreat they went to this time offers Ayurvedic as well as homoeopathic treatments and yoga and meditation sessions.
CNN reported that a Buckingham Palace representative said on Wednesday: “Their Majesties had a short private stopover in India to help break the long journey back from Samoa. They return to the UK this morning.”
King Charles visited Soukya, Bangalore’s holistic health centre,
along with Queen Consort Camilla. The King took a rejuvenation break at Soukya for four days. @RoyalFamily #KingCharlesIII@SoukyaOfficial#DrIssacMathai@HHDigital1#HolisticHealth https://t.co/izfTLbNkRr pic.twitter.com/O1RxQHKkbP— Sunitha Rao R (@sunitha_rao) October 30, 2024
The flight from Apia, the Samoan capital, back to London takes more than 30 hours and requires a layover. One source said the couple decided to break the journey at a location they were familiar with and had visited before.
King Charles, who has been diagnosed with cancer, will continue his treatment when he returns to the United Kingdom. The Australia and Samoa trip was his first long-haul trip since he was diagnosed earlier this year.
He attended the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on Saturday. Britain’s PA Media news agency said that he would be resuming regular overseas travel in 2025. He will be following the regular foreign royal tour schedule as long as the green light is given by his doctors.
According to a palace official, the recent trip was a perfect tonic that had lifted the King’s spirits, his mood and his recovery.
“We’re now working on a pretty normal=looking full overseas tour programme for next year, which is a high for us to end on, to know that we can be thinking in those terms,” PA Media reported, quoting the palace official.