King Charles has found "bits don't work so well" since hitting his 70s

When 85-year-old Jacqueline Page told the king she was "wearing out", the Daily Telegraph newspaper reports he quipped: "Well, this is the terrible thing, as I'm discovering already, bits don't work so well do they once you get past 70."

The king told one patient, Philip Barnard, that there is "huge progress in treatment" and praised advances in medicine for getting "better at dealing with" cancer as he spoke with another.

Matthew Shinda, who has late-stage prostate cancer, told Charles: "I could go today, I could go tomorrow."

The royal visitor asked if doctors were making him comfortable and said: "The great thing I think is they're getting better and better at dealing with these things. The trouble is there's always hope down the road.

"I am sorry about that, it's so frustrating."

Matthew also told the king: "It's nice to see that you're recovering well.

He replied: "I'm not too bad, thank you very much."

During his conversation with Jacqueline, the pair reminisced about Charles' visit to Birmingham in 1978, when he came to the city to open Perry Barr Stadium.

She said: "You came in the helicopter, and you got out and came straight towards my parents.

"They shook hands with you but I didn't get a look-in, so I'm so delighted to meet you today."

The King replied: "It was a wonderful old helicopter, I seem to remember. I used to fly it because I had flown them in the Navy. I left the Navy in 1976 and I could still remember how to fly it, that was the great thing."

During his visit, Charles also met with staff, students and volunteers, and Sir David Nicholson, chairman of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust said it was a "tremendous honour" to have the king unveil a plaque to mark the hospital's official opening.

He said: "This is a day of immense pride, not just for those of us who have been part of this project since its inception, but the entire community that will benefit from this world-class facility for generations to come.

"Your Majesty, it is with deepest gratitude and immense pride that we welcome you here today to officially open the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital."