King Charles diagnosed with cancer and will take step back from official duties

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The King has cancer

King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer and will be taking a step back from public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The monarch says he feels "wholly positive" about his treatment and will "continue to undertake state business and official paperwork as usual".

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: "During The King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer.

"His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties."

The Palace statement does not identify which form of cancer King Charles has been diagnosed with, although ITV News understand it is not prostrate cancer.

The statement adds: "The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.

"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 King previously received treatment for an enlarged prostate at London Clinic on Friday, January 26 and was discharged last Monday after three nights.

Charles was diagnosed with the benign condition on January 17 while staying at Birkhall, Aberdeenshire, after going for a check-up because he was experiencing symptoms.

The King attended a church service for the first time since his treatment in hospital on Sunday at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham alongside Camilla.

Last week, the Queen said her husband was “doing his best” following his release from hospital as she opened a cancer support centre at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Earlier on Monday, it was announced the Prince of Wales would carry out his first public engagements since the Princess of Wales underwent major abdominal surgery in January, also at the London Clinic.

William had taken time off to support his family as Kate recovered first in hospital then returned home to Windsor to convalesce.

The Prince of Wales will host an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday and that evening will attend the London Air Ambulance annual fundraising gala in central London, said Kensington Palace.

The Duke of Sussex has spoken with the King about his cancer diagnosis and will travel to the UK to see him in the coming days, a source close to Harry told PA news agency.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak wished the King a "full and speedy recovery" and said he will no doubt "be back to full strength in no time" after Charles was diagnosed with a form of cancer.

Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "On behalf of the Labour Party, I wish His Majesty all the very best for his recovery.

"We look forward to seeing him back to swift full health."

[Crazedwraith]

Well that sucks to be him. Cancer is a nasty rap whoever you are.

on the other hand he will be getting top tier effective treatment as quick as anyone and quicker than most.

Still not wanting another set of funeral and coronation for a good long time.

[Bedlam]

Even if not a funeral it may well speed up an abdication.

[Marko Dash]

If he kicks it would this be the shortest reign of an English monarch?

[Crazedwraith]

Depends if lady jane grey counts she only lasted a few days before being deposed.

Likewise Edward V got deposed by Richard III after a couple of months

https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/the ... ry-172147/

[Adam Reynolds]

Edward VIII was already shorter within the year 1936 before he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. Charles is already at a year and a half, so no.

I'm sure there are also a few older examples but that is already one within the House of Windsor.

[Zaune]

This would probably be a very good time for someone in government to ascertain whether or not William actually wants to take over the family business, and give some thought to what to do if he doesn't.

[Solauren]

The line of succession for the Crown is as follows
(1) William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982) B D W
(2) Prince George of Wales (b. 2013) B D W
(3) Princess Charlotte of Wales (b. 2015) B D W
(4) Prince Louis of Wales (b. 2018) B D W

(5) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984) B D W
(6) Prince Archie of Sussex (b. 2019) B D W
(7) Princess Lilibet of Sussex (b. 2021) B D

(8) Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960) B D W (Can't see that being allowed)

(9) Princess Beatrice (b. 1988) B D W
(10) Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (b. 2021) B D

(11) Princess Eugenie (b. 1990) B D W
(12) August Brooksbank (b. 2021) B D
(13) Ernest Brooksbank (b. 2023) B D

(14) Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1964) B D W
(15) James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (b. 2007) B D W
(16) Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003) B D W

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Successio ... succession
for more.

So, if William turns down the Crown, it goes to one of his kids. If he turns it down on their behalf (I'm not sure he could, but let's assume he can), it would go to Harry. That of course would completely torpedo his and Meghans attempts a 'Privacy'.

Assuming William + Harry both turn the crown down for themselves and their kids, I'm going to assume Andrew would be skipped over, and Beatrice would be offered the Crown.

[Zaune]

Good to know, thank you. But I hope they start making discreet inquiries about which of the individuals further down the line of succession would be willing to step up just in case. It'd be infinitely more awkward to be scrambling around at the last minute because everyone assumed William was fine with taking over until they woke up to find he'd taken to his heels.

[Solauren]

Good to know, thank you. But I hope they start making discreet inquiries about which of the individuals further down the line of succession would be willing to step up just in case. It'd be infinitely more awkward to be scrambling around at the last minute because everyone assumed William was fine with taking over until they woke up to find he'd taken to his heels.

From what I understand, King Charles condition does not sound terminal. (I'll admit, they could be covering that up until he's had a face to face with Prince Harry. Harry is supposed to be going to the UK to see his father in person in the immediate future).

Also, unlike Harry + Meghan, William and Kate appear to have no problem being in the spotlight. Like Charles, they use it to support Charities and the like they are in favor of.

It's Harry that claims to have issues with the spotlight. Apparently, " press intrusion" (re Tabloids) cost him at least 2 serious relationships. (Compare that to Wiliam and Kate, who started dating each other and never really stopped).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Ha ... _of_Sussex

Flip down to 'Personal life'. Tabloids have put him through the ringer.

Anyway, assuming King Charles does pass away due to Cancer, I can't see William not taking the throne without good reason (i.e Health issues).

[bilateralrope]

on the other hand he will be getting top tier effective treatment as quick as anyone and quicker than most.

There is one complication there:

King Charles criticised for appointing pro-homeopathy doctor

Emily Dugan
@emilydugan
Sun 10 Dec 2023 18.52 GMT

This article is more than 1 month old

Campaigners say monarch’s decision to put Dr Michael Dixon in charge of royal medical household is ‘inappropriate’

King Charles’s appointment of a pro-homeopathy head of the royal medical household has been described as worrying and inappropriate by academics and campaigners.

Dr Michael Dixon, who has championed faith healing and herbalism in his work as a GP, has quietly held the senior position for the last year, the Sunday Times reported.

While Dixon, 71, is head of the royal medical household, for the first time the role is not combined with being the monarch’s physician. Duties include having overall responsibility for the health of the king and the wider royal family – and even representing them in talks with government.

Dixon, who has a penchant for bow ties and a long association with the king, worked in the NHS for almost half a century and is an outspoken advocate of complementary medicine.

He once invited a Christian healer to his surgery to treat chronically ill patients and experimented with prescribing an African shrub called devil’s claw for shoulder pain, as well as horny goat weed for impotence, the Sunday Times reported.

Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor at the University of Exeter, whose work has debunked alternative medicine, said: “Anyone who promotes homeopathy is undermining evidence-based medicine and rational thinking. The former weakens the NHS, the latter will cause harm to society.

“We and others have shown that homeopathy is not an effective therapy, which has today become the accepted consensus. To me, this means its only legitimate place is in the history books of medicine.”

Ernst said “the king can appoint who he wants”, but pointed out that his book on the king’s interest in alternative medicine found that “in the realm of health care, he often seemed to favour people who promote dubious therapies”.

Homeopathic remedies have not been available on prescription since 2017 when NHS England found “no clear or robust evidence to support [their use]”.

Buckingham Palace defended Dixon’s appointment on Sunday, saying “his position is that complementary therapies can sit alongside conventional treatments, provided they are safe, appropriate and evidence based”.

The Good Thinking Society, which promotes scientific scepticism, told the Guardian it was concerned by Dixon’s appointment. Michael Marshall, project director at the society, said: “It isn’t appropriate. I think the role of the monarchy, if it has one in current society, isn’t to be advocating for their own personal projects and their own personal beliefs or using the power and influence they have to further causes that run directly counter to the evidence that we have.

“It’s absolutely unequivocal that homeopathic remedies do not work and just because you happen to be in a position of extreme power and privilege, that doesn’t change that.”

Marshall said the appointment was also worrying because it suggested the king might still be supporting complementary medicine behind the scenes.

He added: “Before Charles became king, he was the patron of homeopathic organisations, he was an outspoken advocate in favour of homeopathy and pushing back the bounds of science towards pseudoscience.

“And the argument was that he would stop doing that once he became king. This appears to be a sign that he isn’t going to do that, that he isn’t going to stop.

“What’s worrying is, as we’ve seen from the black spider memos, Charles is someone who also wields his power and influence quietly behind the scenes as well as publicly, so if this is the kind of step he’s willing to make in public, it raises questions about whether he’s willing to make even more steps in private.”

Graham Smith, chief executive of the campaign group Republic, said: “I think what he’s doing here is risky for the royal family because it throws the spotlight on this aspect of his beliefs that a lot of people wouldn’t be aware of. I think it’s pretty appalling to put someone like that in such a senior high status role … I think we ought to be seeing people put there who are representing real experts in health.”

Smith added: “The whole promotion of alternative medicine undermines the trust in real medicine and I think that putting him in that place is really irresponsible and raises questions about his judgment.”

A Palace spokesperson said: “Dr Dixon is a practising GP; a Fellow of the Royal College of GPs; a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; former chair of NHS Alliance; former co-chair of the National Social Prescribing Network; former NHS England national clinical champion for social prescribing and the chair of the College of Medicine. He also has an OBE for services to primary care.

“Dr Dixon does not believe homeopathy can cure cancer. His position is that complementary therapies can sit alongside conventional treatments, provided they are safe, appropriate and evidence based.

“As Prince of Wales, the king’s position on complementary therapies, integrated health and patient choice was well documented. In his own words: ‘Nor is it about rejecting conventional medicines in favour of other treatments: the term ‘complementary’ medicine means precisely what it says’.”

Dixon has been approached for comment.

[Bedlam]

This would probably be a very good time for someone in government to ascertain whether or not William actually wants to take over the family business, and give some thought to what to do if he doesn't.

I suspect that discussion was made around about the time the queen died if not further, given his age it's never been all that likely that Charles's reign would be all that long.

Edward VIII was already shorter within the year 1936 before he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. Charles is already at a year and a half, so no.

I'm sure there are also a few older examples but that is already one within the House of Windsor.

I think it total there are about a dozen monarch's with shorter reigns that Charles III so far a few like Lady Jane Grey are disputed as whether they count and most of the rest are back in Saxon times, I think the shortest undisputed is Harold's successor after Hastings before William the Conqueror finished crushing the local resistance after the battle.

[Solauren]

Also, it depends on when you qualify them as the 'King of England', and so forth.

[PainRack]

I .... Wondering whether we get news on how much homeopathy King Charles will use.
.might be a good time to finally refund that centre he set up.

[Gandalf]

If he's still an advocate for homeopathy, now's a chance to prove its viability on a big stage.

[Col. Crackpot]

If he's still an advocate for homeopathy, now's a chance to prove its viability on a big stage.

viability?

For sure we will see a lesson on the efficacy of homeopathic cancer remedies. Not the one ol' Chucky boy anticipates though.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

'Incredibly tough couple of months': Princess of Wales undergoing cancer treatment

The Princess of Wales has revealed she is undergoing treatment for cancer.

In a video message released on Friday, Kate said that following successful abdominal surgery in January her condition was thought to be non-cancerous, but later tests found cancer had been present.

She is now undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

Kate explained that she and the Prince of Wales have been taking time in private to explain everything to their young children.

She thanked the public for the support and kindness she has received and told others facing cancer, they are not alone.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery.

"It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought
that my condition was non-cancerous.

"The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

"As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment.

"But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.

"As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

"Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love,
support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.

"We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.

"At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer.

"For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone."

Starmer says people should 'butt out' of Kate Middleton's private life

What happens next for Kate following alleged data breach?
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among the first to react to the news and said the Princess had "shown tremendous bravery with her statement today".

"In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media.

"I know I speak for the whole country in wishing her a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back in action when she’s ready."

Kate underwent abdominal surgery in January and hasn't carried out any official engagements since Christmas Day.

Her video message on Friday comes after weeks of speculation surrounding her health and whereabouts.

Kate was last seen in public at her local farm shop on Saturday, and a video was published in the Sun newspaper on Tuesday.

Rumours have continued to spiral online around that video clip, fuelling further hysteria and conspiracy theories.

[LadyTevar]

OOOF.

Sounds like possible Endometriosis gone cancerous.

[Solauren]

It's very sad she felt the need to do this.

And to anyone going 'what took so long'. Well, maybe the palace was being decient and waiting until parents had explained everything to their young children before it appeared in the fucking newspaper!
(I mean, those kids CAN read English you know...)

[Broomstick]

Sounds like possible Endometriosis gone cancerous.

I see a lot of speculation on line that Kate has a gynecological cancer. In reality we just don't know. Here is where I point out that the abdomen is chock-full of various organs and any of them could have started rebelling against the common good.

[LadyTevar]

Sounds like possible Endometriosis gone cancerous.

I see a lot of speculation on line that Kate has a gynecological cancer. In reality we just don't know. Here is where I point out that the abdomen is chock-full of various organs and any of them could have started rebelling against the common good.

This is a very good point. Most I think are focusing on gynecological cancer because of her recent pregnancy, and because it's one of the more common female cancers, other than breast cancer.

[Broomstick]

That, and very often women are defined by their reproductive organs in our society. Often, women are over-medicalized in general.

Incidences of things like colon cancer are increasing in people under 50, though, so it could easily be something of that sort.