King honours medical staff for personal service during his cancer treatment
Awards under the Royal Victorian Order are in the King’s gift and are bestowed independently of Downing Street.
The King has personally honoured senior staff from his medical team during his treatment for cancer.
Charles’s GP Dr Douglas Glass, otherwise known as the apothecary to the King, and his physician Professor Richard Leach have been recognised for their personal service to the monarch and the royal family.
The honours come after the King and the Princess of Wales’s double cancer diagnoses this year, with Charles continuing his treatment while resuming near full duties.
Kate is making a gradual return to official public engagements after her course of chemotherapy ended in the summer.
Dr Glass served as Queen Elizabeth II’s apothecary and was the medical professional in attendance at Balmoral when she died.
He was already a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) and has now been appointed a Commander by the King.
Awards under the RVO are in the King’s gift and are bestowed independently of Downing Street to people who have served the monarch or the royal family in a personal way.
Prof Leach is a consultant physician at the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London, where members of the royal family have been treated for decades, and a consultant physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Trust, where he is clinical director for pulmonary and critical care medicine.
He was made a Lieutenant of the RVO.
Also recognised was Dame Annabel Whitehead, who served as a lady in waiting to the late Queen for around 20 years until her death in 2022 and had been made a Dame Commander of the RVO.
After the King’s accession it was announced she would become a lady of the household, assisting the monarch in hosting formal events at Buckingham Palace, and has been appointed a Dame Grand Cross, the order’s highest accolade.
