King Charles enjoyed a fresh start to the day as he stepped out into the cold to attend a church service.
The monarch, 75, looked in good shape as he braved the cold November morning to attend a Sunday service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
While his wife, Camilla, 77, appeared to be absent from the service, she was joined by several other guests.
Charles was photographed giving a friendly greeting as he chatted to the Reverend Canon Paul William of Sandringham parish.
The monarch looked elegant in a long tan coat paired with gray pants and chestnut brogues.
King Charles enjoyed a fresh start to the day as he stepped out into the cold to attend the church service.
Under his long coat, the monarch appeared to be wearing a light blue shirt.
Other guests at the service also looked stylish in similar dress coats and warm winter hats to ward off the morning chill.
While chatting with the reverend, the king was photographed waving behind a seasonal backdrop of fields and autumn leaves.
Meanwhile, Reverend Canon, shrouded in dawn, was seen smiling as he walked to the church alongside Charles.
The revelation comes after revelations that the king is making millions from the cash-strapped NHS, according to a shocking investigation into secret royal finances by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times.
The Duchy of Lancaster, a property empire that provides private income to the monarch, is charging an NHS trust at least £11.4 million in rent to store its ambulances over the next 15 years.
Explosive documents reveal the dukedom earns £830,000 a year renting a two-storey warehouse to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
The unprecedented audit of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, the private estate of the Prince of Wales, shows taxpayers are shelling out millions each year to boost the royals’ wealth.
The Duchy of Cornwall, led by Prince William, says it is ‘not a public body, nor funded by taxpayers’
In addition to the National Health Service, the Ministry of Defence, local authorities and other public bodies are adding to the coffers of the duchies, according to a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation broadcast last night.
Charities, including those where the King is a patron, are also giving millions, five months’ investigation of more than 5,000 estates and estates shows.
The revelations come as struggling Britons were hit by the £40bn tax rise in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget last week, and will spark renewed debate over how much tax MPs should pay. royalty and how secretive they are about their operations.
The Duchy’s money is private income for Charles and William, on top of the Sovereign Grant, which will pay the Royal Family £132 million next year, 50 per cent more than this year.
Duchies operate as trading companies, but pay no capital gains tax or corporation tax. Both Charles and William pay income taxes, but it is unclear how much.
Dame Margaret Hodge, former chair of the Public Accounts Committee, led calls for greater transparency of royal finances and for the tax regime to be tightened.
The properties have helped make the British royal family one of the richest in the world, generating almost £50 million for the King and Prince of Wales in the last year alone.
She said: ‘I would love for King Charles to volunteer to open the affairs of all these organizations to much greater public scrutiny at a time when people feel poor. It’s taxpayers’ money.
The Duchy of Lancaster, which last year generated £27.4 million for the King, and the Duchy of Cornwall, which raised £23.6 million for William, are not required to pay business tax.
Both estates claim they are not taxpayer-funded, but the cache of documents obtained by Dispatches and the Sunday schedule expose the enormous income they receive from public services.
As the Daily Mail reported, the Duchy of Cornwall said it is “a private estate with a commercial imperative… committed to restoring the natural environment”, and said it was “acting responsibly and sustainably” on mining. .
The Duchy of Lancaster said it “operates as a commercial company” and “complies with all relevant UK legislation”.
Meanwhile, the king and queen will pay a visit to Italy next year, health permitting.
Charles, who is still undergoing cancer treatment, would have been “uplifted” by his recent trip to Australia and Samoa, where he performed up to ten engagements a day.
Now the king will return to a “full programme” of foreign tours next year following a new vote of confidence in his health from his doctors.
And sources close to Charles, who stopped treatment to undertake the 30,000-mile, 11-day round trip, explained it was all part of his “mind, body and soul” approach to his battle with cancer.
Other guests at the service also looked stylish in similar dress coats and warm winter hats to ward off the morning chill.
It comes after news that the king and queen will travel to Italy next year, health permitting.
Travel in particular is seen as a tonic for the King, who will likely visit the capital city of Rome and schedule an audience with the Pope at the Vatican.
Charles was so encouraged by his Australian tour, as were his doctors, that he hopes to be back to normal next year.
“We are now working on a full overseas tour schedule which looks quite normal for next year,” a senior royal official said, suggesting that the traditional spring and autumn tours will be back in play.
Speaking about a possible visit to Italy, a royal source told The Mirror: “The King is keen to leave and is incredibly positive about making plans for the future.
“Although in the early stages, a visit to Italy would provide a fantastic opportunity for the King and Queen to represent the UK and see some of the incredible sites of one of our closest neighbours.”
King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a farewell ceremony at Siumu Village on the final day of the royal visit to Australia and Samoa.
Pictured: King Charles and Queen Camilla hope to visit Italy next year, with the monarch said to be keen to “make up for lost time”. The royal couple in Florence in 2017
Another insider said the King was “eager to make up for lost time”, having taken a step back to undergo cancer treatment.
Charles is said to be optimistic and sees the future as “bright”, which cannot always be said to have been the case after the king was diagnosed earlier this year.
After the initial shock of such a “surprising” diagnosis, he realized “in an instant” how much he had in common with so many millions of people in the UK and across the Commonwealth.
They say it has been a great source of strength for him to talk to others about their shared experiences.
And he hopes others have taken comfort in the fact that even “a king can get cancer.”
Charles and Camilla’s last official visit to Italy was in 2017, as Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
