King Charles Gives Update on ‘Frightening’ Cancer Diagnosis – The Daily Beast
2025-04-30T19:20:00Z
The king shared a touching message at a reception celebrating those who help people with cancer.
King Charles shared a touching update in his ongoing fight against cancer and what he’s learned from his diagnosis.
The king wrote a message that was printed in a booklet and handed out during Buckingham Palace‘s reception for cancer charities and organizations Wednesday.
He noted how 390,000 people receive a cancer diagnosis across the UK every year, meaning more than 1,000 a day, and understood how “daunting” and “frightening” of an experience it is to be diagnosed.
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“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,” he remarked.
Charles was diagnosed with an unidentified cancer in Jan. 2024, and was hospitalized in March of this year after experiencing “temporary side effects” following a routine treatment.
Buckingham Palace has not publicly released the king‘s prognosis.
In his message, the king thanked researchers, charities, and those who “so selflessly give care, comfort and reassurance” to cancer patients, saying that they “have my whole family’s deepest admiration and gratitude.”
“It has certainly given me an even deeper appreciation of the extraordinary work undertaken by the remarkable organizations and individuals gathered here this evening, many of whom I have known, visited and supported over the years,” he said.
He added: “And it has reinforced what I have long observed during these visits—that the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion.”
Charles revealed that he and Queen Camilla have repeatedly been struck by “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.”
“These moments of kinship create what I might call a ‘community of care’, one that sustains patients through the most difficult of times,” he said.
The king wrapped up his statement by telling “those who may be receiving such upsetting news today, tomorrow or at any point in the future,” to think of the late Dame Deborah James, who he said “stands as an inspiration to us all, in sickness and in health.”
He stated: “I can only echo the departing words of the late Dame Deborah James… ‘Find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope.’”
Dame Deborah was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and was a strong voice against the disease, talking about it on her very own BBC podcast and starting a Bowelbabe fund which has raised more than $21 million since its launch.
Both her parents, Heather and Alistair, were present at the reception in Buckingham Palace Wednesday.
She died from her cancer in June 2022 at 40-years-old, only a few weeks after Prince William made her a dame at her family home.
Only two months after his diagnosis last year, Charle’s daughter-in-law Kate Middleton revealed that she too had been diagnosed with cancer in February.
The Princess of Wales underwent chemotherapy last summer and announced that she was cancer-free in September. She is currently in remission.
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