Buckingham Palace addresses King Charles’ bloodshot eye following state visit from President Macron

Earlier today, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla rolled out the red carpet for the President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte in Windsor at the start of the French state visit to the UK.

The British monarchs greeted the French leader and the First Lady on a specially constructed Royal Dais near the town's Windsor and Eton Riverside train station, with the castle in the backdrop.

Prince William and Kate Middleton accompanied the King’s guests to the Berkshire town after meeting them at RAF Northolt in west London, joining them for the 14-mile car journey.

Charles, however, was noticeably sporting a burst blood vessel in his right eye - something which has since prompted Buckingham Palace to issue a statement over.

King Charles III could be seen with a bloodshot eye during French president Emmanuel Macron's UK visit today (8 July) (CHRIS JACKSON / Contributor / Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the Palace, as per GB News, confirmed the bloodshot appearance was 'due to a burst blood vessel that developed overnight, stressing it was unrelated to his ongoing cancer treatment and there was no cause for alarm'.

The Mayo Clinic explains that a broken blood vessel in the eye, which is also known as a subconjunctival hemorrhage, may look alarming, but it's usually a harmless condition that disappears within two weeks or so.

"A subconjunctival hemorrhage often occurs without any obvious harm to your eye," the health experts add.

"Even a strong sneeze or cough can cause a blood vessel to break in the eye. You don't need to treat it."

It is the first state visit to the UK by an EU head of state since Brexit, and the first to be held at Windsor, rather than Buckingham Palace, for more than a decade (PA)

Kate was seen carrying out her official royal duties after opening up about her 'rollercoaster' cancer recovery, its life-changing impact and putting on a 'brave face' last week.

Last week on 2 July, the 43-year-old Princess of Wales made a rare public appearance at Colchester Hospital, where many praised just how frank Kate has been regarding her 'post-treatment phase' following chemotherapy.

"You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatments done, then it's like, 'I can crack on, get back to normal,' but actually, the phase afterwards is really, really difficult," the mother-of-three shared.

Kate, who announced her diagnosis in March 2024 before confirming her remission in January of this year, then made the sad admission that she hasn't been able to 'function normally at home' as she did before she started her cancer treatment.

Kate Middleton was seen carrying out her official royal duties after opening up about her 'rollercoaster' cancer recovery last week (Samir Hussein / Contributor / Getty Images)

"You're not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you're not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to," she continued.

"And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable."

Kate, who shares three children; Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, with her husband William, hailed it as 'life-changing' for both the patient and their families.

"You have to find your new normal and that takes time... and it's a rollercoaster, it's not smooth, like you expect it to be," she said. "But the reality is you go through hard times."