LONDON: King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla have made a brief stopover in India following their recent trip to Australia and Samoa, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Wednesday, staying at a holistic health center they have visited before. Charles, 75, and Camilla made the private visit on their way back from his recent tour of Australia, where he is head of state, and a brief trip to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, his first major foreign trip since being diagnosed with cancer.

Indian media reported that the royal couple had arrived in Bengaluru on Oct 27 and had since been at the Soukya International Holistic Health Centre, where they had enjoyed yoga and meditation sessions. “Their majesties had a short private stopover in India to help break the long journey back from Samoa,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said. “They return to the UK this morning.”

Charles, who has long advocated alternative medicines and therapies, has paid many visits to India and to the Soukya centre itself before. Its website, which says it aims to “restore your body’s natural balance of mind, body and spirit”, features pictures of Charles and Camilla and a testimonial from the monarch on its front page. A royal source said the stopover was not connected to his ongoing health issues, but was to allow him to rest as part of planning for the long-distance travel his recent tour had involved at a location he was familiar. His cancer treatment will resume on his return to Britain, the source said. — Reuters