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By CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London

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King Charles III went into hospital on Friday morning to undergo treatment for his enlarged prostate. 

The 75-year-old monarch was accompanied to the London Clinic by his wife, Queen Camilla - an unexpected sight, as the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip always went into hospital by themselves.

Camilla has been reassuring the public during engagements over the past week, saying while in Swindon, southwest England on Monday that her husband was "fine," and that he was "looking forward to getting back to work," during an art gallery visit in Aberdeen, Scotland last Thursday.

The London Clinic is the same private hospital where Catherine, Princess of Wales remains following her abdominal surgery last week. The king visited his daughter-in-law before he went for his own procedure, a royal source told CNN.

The update on the king comes days after another family member revealed her own health struggle. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was recently diagnosed with her second form of cancer since the summer.
 
Ferguson, who is the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, said she was "in good spirits and grateful for the many messages of love and support" since the announcement that she had been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. She was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer last year.

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Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops in the cells that give skin its color, or melanin. It is considered the most serious form of skin cancer because it can quickly spread to other parts of the body and become potentially deadly. It sometimes starts as a new, small, mole-like growth or develops from an existing mole. 
 
Exposure to the sun is the major risk factor in all types of skin cancer, but it can take only intermittent exposure to the sun, such as weekend sun-bathing, to increase the risk of developing melanoma. 
 
The risk also increases in people who have fair skin that freckles or burns. In addition, people who have many moles and/or irregularly shaped moles are at a higher risk.

The duchess underwent a mastectomy in June, followed by reconstructive surgery. Several moles were removed and analyzed at the time of her surgery.
 
Historically, the royal family has been guarded about revealing the medical issues of members. So the recent forthcoming approach from the institution is refreshing.
 
In years gone by, it was often Catherine who was praised by the media and public for her trendsetting. But this time round we're seeing something of a "King Charles effect" taking place.
 
The king's rare intervention to share his diagnosis of an enlarged prostate has sparked a surge in men checking whether they are at risk of prostate cancer, according to new figures from NHS England. 
 
Visits to the health service's "enlarged prostate" webpage, which provides information on causes, symptoms and treatment options, saw traffic surge to more than 10 times its daily average after the palace's announcement.
 
The page received 16,410 visits on the day of the announcement, in comparison with 1,414 visits the day before, according to the organization.
 
Prostate Cancer UK also said the number of individuals using its online risk checker had jumped 97%. The charity praised the monarch "for his openness that'll inevitably raise more awareness about the condition."

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The duchess, affectionately known as Fergie, also wanted to use her diagnosis to raise awareness of a common condition that can so often be overlooked.
 
"My experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles that can be a sign of melanoma and urge anyone who is reading this to be diligent," she said.
 
A lively character, Ferguson has always been one of the more outspoken members of the family. Her divorce granted her the freedom to get involved in topics that royals wouldn't normally address, like battles with her weight and use of cosmetic surgery. 
 
What we've seen over the past week is how the royal family has been able to turn these moments of adversity into strengths. In giving up a small amount of their hard-won privacy, they've unified the public and media alike and been widely praised for appearing more relatable and offering up a "new era of openness."  

Duke of Sussex drops libel claim.

Prince Harry has withdrawn a libel claim he brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, it was reported last Friday. The Duke of Sussex had sued ANL over a February 2022 story about his separate British High Court case against the UK's Home Office concerning security arrangements when he and his family visit the country.
"The Duke of Sussex abandoned his case just hours before a deadline for his lawyers to pass over a list of relevant documents," the Daily Mail, which is also published by ANL, reported. "He will now face having to pay the newspaper's costs of £250,000 along with his own lawyers' fees - meaning a total legal bill of more than £750,000," the paper said.

A spokesperson for Prince Harry told CNN that the Mail on Sunday article in 2022 put forward a false claim that he had only offered to pay police protection out of his own funds after he launched his bid for a judicial review in September 2021. It is now widely known that he first offered to pay in January 2020 and has been willing to do so ever since, the spokesperson added.

In July 2022, a High Court judge found parts of the article were defamatory. ANL firmly contested the claim, with lawyers for the publisher arguing the report was an "honest opinion" that did not cause "serious harm" to his reputation.

In December, the court refused a bid from Harry's legal team to strike out ANL's "honest opinion" defense or grant a decision in their client's favor without a trial. Explaining his decision, Justice Matthew Nicklin said "the Defendant has a real prospect of demonstrating, at trial" that statements issued by the prince's communications team were "misleading" and allowed the case to continue.

As several years have passed since this complaint was first filed and the main hearing relating to the duke's judicial review of the security decision has since taken place, the prince's spokesperson emphasized that Harry and his team are more focused on the judicial review and the final decision on whether the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) acted lawfully with regard to his security. 

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Speaking of the Sussexes, the couple made a surprise trip down to Jamaica this week. Harry and Meghan popped up at the red carpet premiere of "Bob Marley: One Love." However, one moment from the Kingston event that has raised eyebrows here in Britain came after the couple were snapped with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, his wife Juliet, and local politician Olivia Grange. Back in 2022, Holness expressed his ambitions to Prince William and Kate during a visit that he hopes to transform the island nation into a republic in the future.  

St Helena/Diana Jarvis

Prince Edward finishes up a four-day visit to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on Friday. It is the first visit by a member of the royal family to the British overseas territory since Princess Anne visited in 2002. "We are honored to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to St. Helena on a four-day visit. This promises to be a special occasion, with a public holiday allowing the entire community to join this opportunity to celebrate all that is great about the culture and environment of this remarkable island," the island's governor, Nigel Phillips, said.

During the visit, Edward, 59, made sure to visit a 192-year-old tortoise named Jonathan, believed to be the oldest living land animal in the world. He lives within the grounds of the governor's official residence, Plantation House. His birthdate is estimated to be in the early 1830s and he's hobnobbed with numerous members of the family over the decades, including the duke's grandparents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth; his mother, Queen Elizabeth II; and his aunt, Princess Margaret.  

"His Majesty would like to thank all those who have sent their good wishes over the past week and is delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness."

– Buckingham Palace

CNN's Jonny Hallam, Sharon Braithwaite and Radina Gigova contributed reporting to this week’s newsletter.