The King will stress the importance of extending "the hand of friendship… especially in a time of need" in his first public comments since the Princess of Wales revealed her cancer diagnosis.

The pre-recorded audio will be broadcast in his absence at a Royal Maundy service in Worcester Cathedral on Thursday ahead of the Easter weekend. The King, who announced in February he was undergoing cancer treatment, will say how Jesus set an "example of how we should serve and care for each other.