King Charles has said his cancer experience, as ‘frightening’ as it is, has brought into ‘sharp focus the very best of humanity’.
The monarch, 76, was diagnosed with the disease less than 18 months after beginning his reign. He receives weekly treatment.
Charles and palace officials alike have said, time and time again, that the king is on the road to recovery – and probably working a tad too much, Queen Camilla has joked.
But in a raw statement today, Charles reflected on his cancer journey, saying a ‘cancer diagnosis need never mean facing the future without hope and support’.
‘Each diagnosis, each new case, will be a daunting and at times frightening experience for those individuals and their loved ones,’ he wrote.
‘But as one among those statistics myself, I can vouch for the fact that it can also be an experience that brings into sharp focus the very best of humanity.’
There are more than 385,000 new cancer cases in the UK every year, about 1,000 every day.
Charles described how he and Camilla have seen ‘first hand’ how hard-working healthcare professionals and cancer researchers. Coming only one month after the king was briefly back in hospital over side effects from his cancer treatment.
The statement was released to coincide with a Palace reception he hosted to celebrate organisations helping people with the disease.
‘What strikes us repeatedly is the profound impact of human connection – whether in the careful explanation from a specialist nurse, the hand held by a hospice volunteer, or the shared experience in a support group,’ he said.
‘These moments of kinship create what I might call a “community of care”, one that sustains patients through the most difficult of times.
‘So to all the researchers pursuing pioneering breakthroughs; to the healthcare professionals providing specialist treatment; to the volunteers offering comfort, or campaigning to raise awareness; and to the fundraisers enabling all this vital work – you have my whole family’s deepest admiration and gratitude.
‘Your commitment to early diagnosis, evermore successful therapies and truly holistic care represents the very best our country can offer.’
Neither the Royal Family nor Buckingham Palace officials have disclosed what type of cancer the king has, other than saying it is not of the prostate.
But while palace officials are typically tight-lipped about the health of the royals, they have said the king wanted to encourage men his age to have a prostate checkup and curb any speculation about his condition.
‘To those who may be receiving such upsetting news today, tomorrow or at any point in the future, I can only echo the departing words of the late Dame Deborah James, whose parents I am delighted to have with us here this evening,’ Charles added, referring to the journalist who, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer, spent years campaigning up until the death in 2022.
‘“Find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope.”’
The message was printed in a booklet given out at the Palace’s reception to guests, including Dame Deborah’s parent,s Heather and Alistair.
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