King Charles appeared to handle the travel to Canada pretty well this week. His color looked good, he didn’t have that ashen pallor he’s had often in the past fifteen months, and he managed to cram a dozen events into a 24-hour blitz in Ottawa. This was his first trip to Canada and North America as king. Now, I sort of believe that the brevity of the trip had multiple purposes – Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney didn’t want Charles and Camilla to linger, and neither did Charles’s aides and courtiers. Everything was stage-managed so that Charles would look and seem healthy for 24 hours. Well, interestingly enough, an unnamed palace aide (likely Buckingham Palace’s communications secretary) gave an interview to the Telegraph. This is the palace directly dictating the talking points of Charles’s trip and his health.
On Charles’s cancer: The senior royal aide said the King is dealing “incredibly well” with his undisclosed cancer, adding: “The thing you learn about this illness is that you just manage it and that’s what he does. Medical science has made incredible advances and I genuinely see no difference in him.As long as you just do what the doctors say, just live your life as normal as possible… that’s exactly what he is doing.”
Charles’s speech in Canada’s Parliament: The senior royal aide described the King’s speech, written by the Canadian government, as “thought-provoking, not provocative”, and it set out the agenda of prime minister Mark Carney’s new administration, outlining measures widely seen as combating US president Donald Trump.
Charles’s first trip to Canada as king: A senior royal aide said: “It is a reset of that relationship, and for Their Majesties to see so many people turn out and to be so thrilled to see them was fantastic.”
The aide on the Carolean age: “Almost three years on, everyone has a clear impression of what that is and the role that he will play – one that is both traditional for the monarchy and distinct to His Majesty. Leveraging on the long relationships he has built over the years, he has enhanced his role as a global statesman on so many issues, wielding soft power to the benefit of all the realms and commonwealth nations at a time of great international challenge. He has dealt with his illness in a very human way, and the way he’s engaging with the public at a very human level. I think we now have a clear idea of what the Carolean age looks like and what it stands for – now and hopefully for many years to come.”
It’s useful to look beyond Charles’s appearance and the palace’s talking points about his cancer and health. It’s important to look at how his staff behave, and how Charles’s family behave as well. Charles’s sons are BOTH acting like he doesn’t have much time left. Charles’s aides speak around Charles’s actual medical situation, treatments and what doctors are really saying to him. It’s possible that Charles’s prognosis is actually positive and that he will live for many more years. But that’s not the way people around Charles are acting.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
