Before Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024, he previously had a “cancer scare,” a royal biography claims.
On Nov. 3, the Mail on Sunday published an excerpt of an updated edition of Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, out Nov. 7. In it, author Robert Hardman makes the allegation in a passage about the King’s health crisis this year.
“Besides, one former member of the team from his Prince of Wales days reveals that the King had actually undergone a cancer scare some years before,” said the excerpt published by the Mail on Sunday. “Given his close involvement over the decades, as prince, with several cancer organizations and charities, here was a patient with a deeper understanding of the disease than most.”
The palace generally refrains from commenting on books written about members of the royal family.
King Charles was the Prince of Wales for 64 years, from 1958 until 2022, when the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, prompted his accession at age 73.
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In the updated version of Charles III, Hardman writes that Buckingham Palace’s Jan. 17 announcement about the King’s treatment for a benign enlarged prostate was historic in that “No previous bulletin on the health of a sovereign had ever been quite so frank.” It was announced on Feb. 5 that the King, 75, was diagnosed with cancer; a spokesman clarified he does not have prostate cancer.
Though the palace maintained a tight-lipped approach to medical information throughout Queen Elizabeth’s record-breaking reign, Hardman writes that there was “very little internal debate” about announcing that the King had cancer.
“After the earlier announcement about his prostate, it was actually an easy decision to say, ‘Well, that’s what we do these days,’ ” Hardman quotes a member of the King’s staff as saying in the updated edition of Charles III. “‘We didn’t hang about because we all felt that the country does have a right to know about this — though not in forensic detail.’ ”
Hardman writes that the staffer said. “‘When you know the King has got cancer, every cancer sufferer could feel connected to him.’ ”
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The February announcement about the King’s cancer diagnosis directly said that he shared the news about his health, in part, to raise awareness and bolster anyone affected.
“His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer,” the statement said.
Pan Macmillan
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Following a three-month hiatus from public-facing royal work on doctor’s advice, King Charles returned to forward-facing engagements on April 30 with a visit to a cancer treatment center in London (not directly involved in his medical care), coinciding with the announcement of his patronage of the research charity Cancer Research U.K.
The palace said then that the King’s treatment was ongoing, and Tom Parker Bowles recently told PEOPLE that his stepfather was “strong.”
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“The King is strong,” said Parker Bowles, who is Queen Camilla‘s son from her first marriage. “He is doing what he can. He’s following the advice of his doctors. Fingers crossed, touch wood.”
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