King Charles will not be attending next week’s Commonwealth Day events, Buckingham Palace announced today. with his wife Queen Camilla replacing the monarchas he continues his cancer treatments.

Charles, 75, was forced to step back from public duties after it was announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer less than 18 months after taking the throne.

As a result, the king, who heads the Commonwealth of 56 countries that emerged from the British Empire, will not be able to attend the annual ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Monday and the reception that follows.

Camilla will head the team of senior members of the royal family who will attend, including the heir to the throne Prince William, but not his wife Kate, who is also staying out of the public eye after undergoing abdominal surgery for a non-cancer-related condition.

While Charles continues his official duties as head of state and was caught on camera today meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt a day before he presents the budget to the British parliament, it is unclear when he will return to his usual public role of.

The absence of both the King and Kate, while William missed an engagement last week due to an unspecified “personal matter”, it led to lots of speculation and conspiracy theories on social media.

Members of the British royal family rarely go public with details of medical conditions, regarding them as purely personal matters, but the policy of silence in the face of rumors is under pressure.

Kate’s office has said it will only release “significant” updates on her health and that she is not expected to return to public duties until after Easter.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense announced today that it will attend an annual military parade in June. However, Kensington Palace is responsible for confirming her presence at future events and has not yet done so.

Yesterday, US celebrity news website TMZ published a photo, which it said was the first snap of the Princess of Wales since her surgery in January. In the photo, Kate can be seen sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by her mother near Windsor Castle.