On February 5, 2024, Buckingham Palace officially announced King Charles’s cancer diagnosis. As “Daily Mail” journalist Robert Jobson now reveals, Queen Camilla was reportedly against this step.
Queen Camilla, 77, and King Charles, 75, have been married for 19 years, facing the burdens of life as British royals together. Their romance made history decades earlier. Charles and Camilla have endured a lot over the past 40 years: negative headlines, a secret love for each other, and marriages to other partners that fell apart.
Recently, they faced one of the greatest challenges as a couple: King Charles received a cancer diagnosis following a prostate operation. In February 2024, just days before his 19th wedding anniversary with Camilla, the monarch decided to share his illness with the public. It is now reported that he did so against his wife’s advice.
Why King Charles Acted Against Camilla’s Advice
According to “Daily Mail” editor Robert Jobson, the queen was against an official press release. The reasons behind Camilla’s stance remain unknown. However, Jobson explains why Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son ultimately decided to go public.
At 75, Charles wanted to send a message with his diagnosis. The father of Prince William, 42, and Prince Harry, 39, wanted to encourage men, in particular, to see a doctor promptly if they have any concerns or persistent symptoms. Few men take advantage of prostate examinations and early cancer detection. In Germany, around 4.73 million men underwent prostate examinations as part of early detection in 2019. In comparison, 16.73 million women used the services to detect breast and cervical cancer early in the same year. These figures are from the Barmer Doctor Report 2021.
King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales, Fight Against Cancer
At the beginning of the year, Buckingham Palace announced Charles’s cancer diagnosis, without specifying the type of cancer, which organ was affected, or details of the king’s treatment.
By the end of April, just two months after the diagnosis was made public, the monarch resumed his duties. Contrary to Queen Camilla’s fears, the British public and the world responded with immense sympathy, respect, and love. Charles expressed his gratitude at the time: “I want to wholeheartedly thank everyone for the many messages of support and well wishes I have received in recent days,” said Camilla’s husband in February. In July 2024, Buckingham Palace reported that King Charles and his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, 42, had received an astonishing 27,000 messages from royal fans after their ordeals became public.
King Charles’s Words to Kate: “His Majesty is ‘Very Proud of Catherine for Her Courage’”
That the king did not regret going public became evident a few weeks after the press release. In March, Prince William’s wife took the same step and made her cancer diagnosis public. Catherine’s father-in-law then sent a message to the media, stating, “His Majesty is ‘very proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking out.’ Following their shared hospital stay, His Majesty has ‘maintained the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law in recent weeks.'” Charles emphasized that not only he but also Catherine, William, and their children could always count on Queen Camilla’s support.
