King Charles III speaks at an opening ceremony at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Rafiq Maqbool/The Associated Press
Speculation loves a vacuum, and there’s one of king-sized proportions roaring around. Charles III, freshly crowned, has cancer.
The public statement disclosing the news was short on details, but even this partial reveal was unusual. Buckingham Palace, typically mum on such matters, announced that the cancer had been found during previously disclosed treatment for a benign enlarged prostate. It later clarified that it was not prostate cancer. Outpatient treatments began this week. The King would step back from public-facing duties, but “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, his daughter-in-law and the future queen, Princess Kate, underwent planned abdominal surgery – not cancer. She spent 13 days at the same clinic where Charles had been treated, their stays overlapping.
We are hearing little about the Princess’s condition, other than that she will be out of commission until after Easter while she rests up at home, and that her husband, Prince William, would step back temporarily from public duties to help out at home. (He’s probably fixing dinner as I write this.)
The palace said that it was issuing a statement about the King’s cancer in part to prevent speculation. Not that there’s anything funny about any of this, but – you have to be kidding.
The speculation has been – is there a stronger word than “rampant?” Talking heads and medical experts have weighed in on what it might or might not be.
If it wasn’t prostate cancer – the most likely suspect in such a case – then what kind of cancer could be found during such a procedure? Well, if it was detected during blood tests or other testing before surgery, that’s one thing, indicating a variety of possibilities. But if it was found in the prostate but was not prostate cancer, that could be dire, The New York Times reported.
Meanwhile, Royal watchers were clinging to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s soothing words that the cancer had been caught early. Then a spokesperson for Mr. Sunak clarified that he said that based not on insider info, but on the palace statement, which cited “swift intervention” by the King’s medical team.
Was the fact that Prince Harry flew all the way to London from California and back, just to spend less than an hour with his previously estranged Pa, an indication of the gravity of the situation? (That said, Harry surely did not suffer the various indignities of flying economy – so, hardly a hardship.)
It’s a terrible time for Prince William, all around – his father, 75, has cancer; his wife, 42, is recovering from presumably serious surgery; his estranged brother was back on the scene, however briefly, to make some paternal amends. And the two did not meet, according to reports.
William will need to take on more duties, recovering wife or not. There are worse-case scenarios. William, future king, will be most affected by whatever is happening, and will happen, to his father.
The Prince of Wales returned to public duties on Wednesday, first at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, then a fundraiser for the London Air Ambulance Service.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you … for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days,” William told the gala. “It means a great deal to us all. It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather ‘medical’ focus. So I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all.” (Royals, they’re just like us – they employ gallows humour!)
In the social media whirlwind that has resulted, there have been questions about how much we, the taxpaying public, deserve to know. (Not to mention the rest of the curious who reside outside Britain and the Commonwealth.) There have also been celebratory posts about the King’s cancer.
Reminder: This family is in a terrible time. Too many of us know what this is like, having a loved one with cancer. Sure, the Windsors won’t need to get a meal train going or hesitate to hire extra help while Kate is laid up. Nobody’s worrying about the cost of vitamin supplements over at Sandringham.
But these demands to know what exactly is wrong with Charles come off as insensitive at best. And unnecessary. What does it matter? Whatever happens to Charles, there is a plan for when he dies. He’s going to, at some point. And if his health gets progressively worse and Charles can’t perform his duties, there are Plans B in place, well mapped out.
Charles and his family deserve some privacy in sickness, which they certainly do not get in health. Royals, they’re just like us: human beings.