Queen Camilla Shares Health Update on King Charles During Northern Ireland Visit: ‘Disappointed He Couldn’t Come’

Queen Camilla offered a new comment on how King Charles is doing while receiving cancer treatment during her solo trip to Northern Ireland.

On Thursday, the Queen, 76, stepped out in Belfast to check out some of the city’s artisan and family-run food shops, where she briefly spoke about her husband’s health at the Arcadia Delicatessen.

He’s doing very well. He was very disappointed he couldn’t come,” Queen Camilla said after shop assistant Brenda Robb gave her a get-well card for the King, 75, and shared well-wishes, Hello! magazine reported. According to the outlet, the royal had something playful to say when someone cracked a joke about men “not being the best patients.”

“I try to keep him in order,” Queen Camilla replied about her husband of 18 years.

The Queen spoke about King Charles again during a stop at the family-run Coffey’s Butcher, which has been in business since 1929, when she accepted a gift of the store’s specialties including vegetable rolls, beef sausages and Belfast pickle.

“I shall take these back to my husband. He will really make the most of them,” Queen Camilla said of the treats, Hello! reported.

The Queen also popped into Knotts Bakery, where she made no promises that the fruit loaf and iced madeira they gave her would make it home for the King to sample.

The palace has not specified the type of cancer (though a spokesperson confirmed it is not prostate cancer following the King’s treatment for benign prostate enlargement in January), and King Charles has continued to work behind the scenes. A source close to the royal household previously told PEOPLE says that the monarch is “coping well” with his treatment.

The sovereign appeared in good spirits on Tuesday when he met Korean War veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the conflict (which was in July 2023) at Buckingham Palace.