King Charles and Vladimir Putin couldn’t be less alike, but the King did channel a little bit of Mad Vlad’s language as the pair addressed their health battles during recent appearances

23:16, 20 Dec 2024Updated 23:16, 20 Dec 2024

King Charles quipped about his health during a recent appearance(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Two heads of state both had difficult years and both laughed off the idea of their mortality this week. While neither of King Charles or Vladimir Putin have enjoyed their 2024 much, that is thankfully about where their similarities end.

The King’s difficult year involved cancer diagnoses for the monarch and the Princess of Wales, Prince Andrew experiencing negative headlines again and a bout of pneumonia for the Queen. Mad Vlad, meanwhile, watched as his dictator-mate Bashar al-Assad was turfed out of Syria by rebel forces in a shock, deployed North Korean troops to bolster his forces in Ukraine and watched as the US authorised Ukrainian usage of US-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.

And both Charles and Putin have faced questions about their health. The King joked that he was “still alive” during a visit with the Queen to Walthamstow after August’s peaceful anti-racist protest in the area. The couple attended a reception in celebration of community cohesion at Waltham Forest Town Hall in east London on Friday, and greeted crowds who had gathered outside.

Putin hit back at claims about his health(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Asked “How are you?” by Sikh faith representative Harvinder Rattan, the King smiled as he replied: “I’m still alive.”

Putin, this week, earned a smattering of chuckles as he quoted American author Mark Twain, quipping “the rumours of my death are much exaggerated” in response to a question asking him if he was in a weak position compared to President-elect Donald Trump.

It comes after years of speculation around the health of the maligned Russian leader. Some have even speculated, without evidence, that he died and was replaced by a double.

And King Charles quipped ‘I’m still alive’ after his cancer battle(Image: Getty Images)

Putin made the comments at the ‘Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin’, and end-of-year press conference the BBC said was attended by foreign journalists and members of the public, but was a “highly choreographed and tightly controlled affair”.

Vlad, seated in front of a map of Russia complete with bits his forces had stolen off Ukraine, addressed the fall of Assad.

Putin said Assad’s situation is “complicated”, but that he had not spoken to him despite the ousted dictator now cowering safely in Moscow.

Putin admitted his mate Assad’s situation was ‘complicated’(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Putin also boasted about a resurgence in Russian-Chinese relations and Russia’s new nuclear doctrine.

Vlad’s barmy new rules mean Russia can hit any country with a nuke if it is backed by a power that has an arsenal of the horror weapons of its own. It means Russia argues it has the right to respond to an attack with conventional missiles with nuclear weapons.

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By staronline@reachplc.com (Benjamin Lynch)

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