Queen says Charles is doing very well as she completes Northern Ireland visit

During her first engagement in Belfast on Thursday morning, Camilla was handed a get-well card for her husband, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Later in the day Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill sent her regards to Charles as she shook hands with Camilla at an event in Hillsborough Castle.

The Queen also met deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly ahead of a literary event hosted by her Reading Room charity.

The ministers took up office earlier this year following the resurrection of devolved government in Northern Ireland after a two-year political impasse.

It is the latest royal encounter for Sinn Fein’s Ms O’Neill, who previously attended the funeral of the late Queen in 2022 and the coronation of Charles in 2023.

As she shook hands with Ms O’Neill, Camilla said that her husband sent his “very, very best wishes”, adding that he was disappointed not to make the trip.

The First Minister responded: “I send him my regards too.”

Speaking later, Ms O’Neill said: “I sent my regards to the King in terms of his health, and wished him well and also to the Princess of Wales.”

Ms Little-Pengelly added: “It was fantastic to see the Queen, and we passed on our regards to His Majesty The King in terms of his health, and our best wishes in terms of his recovery.”

During the event at the castle, Camilla marked World Poetry Day by watching spoken-word performances and met authors, actors and performers.

Hosted by poet Paul Muldoon, the Queen watched performances by Derry Girls actor Ian McElhinney, actress Frances Tomelty, and contemporary poet Michael Longley celebrating the poetry and literature of Northern Ireland.

Earlier, the Queen arrived to crowds of well-wishers on the bustling Lisburn Road in south Belfast.

She met owners and staff at Coffey’s Butchers, The Arcadia deli and Knotts Bakery before doing an impromptu meet and greet with well-wishers.

Camilla was presented with a gift of some local favourites at Coffey’s, including vegetable rolls and beef sausages, and responded saying: “I shall take these back for my husband, he will make the most of them.”

During her visit to The Arcadia, shop assistant Brenda Robb asked after Charles, and handed her a get-well card for him, extending her best wishes.

Camilla accepted the card and thanked her, adding: “He’s doing very well …. he was very disappointed he couldn’t come”.

Responding to quips about men “not being the best patients”, Camilla said: “I try to keep him in order.”

Ms Robb told the PA news agency: “She was beautiful, a real lady.

“She accepted a get-well card that I got for her husband and she said she was sorry her husband wasn’t here.

“It was a very appropriate card.

“It had a wee saying from Belfast, basically rest up, take care, and on the back of it, it said from Ireland.

“It was picked with love.

“People say maybe he’ll not get the card, but I think he will.”

Meanwhile, at Knotts, Camilla met owner William Corrie, as well as his wife, former Miss Northern Ireland and Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon, and their one-year-old son Fitz.

The Queen chuckled as a joke was made that the young boy, dressed in a tux, had stolen her thunder, and smiled down at him.

She left Knotts with a gift of their fruit loaf and iced madeira cake, adding she hoped to snack on it later.

Camilla also visited an army base in her role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles, and took the salute at a pass-off parade for junior non-commissioned officers.

Camilla left Northern Ireland following her final engagement at Hillsborough Castle.

The Queen was last in Northern Ireland in May 2023 when she and the King undertook engagements on their first visit to the region following the coronation.

She is travelling alone this week after Charles stepped back from his public duties while receiving treatment for cancer.