Queen Camilla’s Handling King Charles’ Cancer ‘Head-on’ With a Simple 3-Word Phrase
How British royals have reacted to King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis and that of Kate Middleton, have varied, to say the least. It was an—understandably—tough thing to cope with at first for Prince William. Now he’s a better husband and father for it. Like the heir to the throne, Queen Camilla might’ve struggled with the news initially, but now she’s determined to “tackle” the king’s cancer battle “head-on.”
‘Onwards and upwards’ is how Queen Camilla is handling the king’s cancer
According to The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English, how Queen Camilla is dealing with the king’s cancer diagnosis revolves around the phrase, “Onwards and upwards!”
“After a brief wobble, she pulled herself together,” English wrote. “Always a prolific letter writer,” the 76-year-old started ending correspondence with “Onwards and upwards!” English described it as “a clear indicator of how she planned to tackle this new crisis head-on.”
Buckingham Palace announced the king’s diagnosis in a Feb. 5, 2024, statement after he’d undergone a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate on Jan. 26, 2024.
Kate was hospitalized at the same time for abdominal surgery before revealing her own cancer diagnosis in a March 2024 video statement. The king’s treatment, like the Princess of Wales’s own, is ongoing as he slowly ramps up appearances after returning to public duties in late April 2024.
Initially ‘relaxed’ during the king’s hospitalization, the cancer diagnosis has ‘worried’ Camilla
English continued, writing that Camilla’s worry wasn’t “because the King’s prognosis was particularly bad, it should be stressed. But because on a human level, cancer is such a genuinely terrifying prospect for both patients and their partners.”
Initially, a source told English, the king’s January 2024 hospitalization for an enlarged prostate didn’t worry Camilla. “When she visited His Majesty in hospital after he first went in for prostate surgery, she was quite relaxed,” they said. “Concerned, of course, but it was a pretty standard procedure. And there was actually quite a bit of laughter at his bedside.”
However, just a few days later, came the king’s cancer diagnosis. King Charles and Queen Camilla processed the news privately at Sandringham in the lead-up to the palace’s announcement.
The queen also went ahead with a planned Jan. 31, 2024, visit to a cancer support center in London, England, as her husband, unbeknownst to the world at the time, began his own treatment.
By this time, Queen Camilla’s relaxed air was gone. “In private, people had never seen her so worried,” a friend said. “Forget who they are for a second. Look at it from a human level. Her beloved husband was facing a very serious condition. The battle of his life. It was hugely tough.”
The queen and king are now closer than ever
Similar to Prince William and Kate, the royal family’s health woes of 2024 seem to have brought the king and queen closer. “They have always been a team,” someone who knows the couple well told English. “But now you couldn’t get a cigarette paper between them.”
Throughout the ordeal, only one person has been able to reach King Charles, and it’s unsurprisingly the queen. “There is really only one voice in the room that he listens to,” the insider added. “And that’s not the doctors.”
“She is the only person who can persuade him that he needs to pace himself in order to recover. And she’s pretty firm when she has to be. She’s definitely put her foot down as much as she could in recent months.”
After a busy start to summer —Trooping the Colour, a state dinner, and opening Parliament—King Charles and Queen Camilla have some R&R ahead. Per tradition, they’ll spend time at the royal family’s Balmoral estate in Scotland to close out the season.
