When Prince William met Tom Cruise

Prince William returned to royal duties on Wednesday for the first time since his father, King Charles III, announced his cancer diagnosis and his wife, Kate, was hospitalised for abdominal surgery.

Speaking about his families’ health scares in public for the first time, the 41-year-old heir to the throne thanked the public for their ‘kind messages of support’ at a charity gala dinner. Earlier in the day, he performed an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days,” William told the gala dinner for London’s Air Ambulance Charity. “It means a great deal to us all. It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather medical focus, so I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all,” he added jokingly.

The royal, who is a former air ambulance helicopter pilot, met fellow pilots and chatted with guests, including Hollywood star Tom Cruise at the black-tie event. — AP