By Danica Kirka, Associated Press
London (AP) – King Charles III made a sign of sympathizer on Friday in central London when he headed for his campaign domain in the west of England one day after being briefly hospitalized due to the side effects of a treatment of the planned cancer.
Charles canceled commitments scheduled for Thursday afternoon and Friday on the advice of his doctors, said Buckingham Palace, without providing details on the “temporary side effects” he experienced.
But the episode recalled that the king is 76 years old and continues to undergo treatment for an uncompromising form of cancer diagnosed over a year ago.
This reality has moved away from collective conscience since last spring, when Charles returned to public tasks after having moved away for almost three months to focus on his initial treatment and his recovery. During the months that followed, he attended commemoration events of D -Day in France, chaired the opening of the state of the Parliament and even launched a nine -day visit to Australia and the Samoa.
But during the first stages of his treatment, Charles continued to fulfill his constitutional functions as head of state, in particular by examining the documents of the government and by meeting the Prime Minister.
Here is a brief overview of what we know about the king’s health.
What happened?
The king went to the London clinic Thursday morning for treatment of the planned cancer. The clinic is a private hospital in the center of London, where Charles has been receiving treatment since his diagnosis in February 2024.
“After a planned and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, the king experienced temporary side effects which required a short period of observation in the hospital,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “His Majesty’s afternoon commitments were therefore postponed.”
The king then returned home to Clarence House, where he examined the papers and made calls, said the palace. Queen Camilla did not join her at the hospital.
“His Majesty would like to apologize to all those who can be embarrassed or disappointed accordingly,” the palace said in a statement.
Will this affect future events?
The king should continue with his work in the coming days, including a state visit to Italy scheduled for early April.
Why did the Palace decided to reveal this information?
Palace officials have recognized that it is preferable to disclose information on the King’s health, rather than allowing media speculation to fill the void when it is obliged to cancel the scheduled events.
But they tried to travel a fine line, seeking to balance the legitimate interest of the public for the health of the head of state with Charles’ right to privacy.
This was first seen in January 2024, when the palace announced that Charles was treated for an extended prostate, followed by the diagnosis of cancer a few weeks later.
The decision to talk about the king’s health problems marked a gap compared to the protocols of the past palaces. For example, when Queen Elizabeth II began to miss events towards the end of her life, royal officials said on several occasions that she suffered from “mobility problems”, without providing more details. His death certificate listed the cause as “old age”.
The public did not know that Charles’s grandfather, King George VI, had lung cancer before his death in February 1952 at the age of 56. Some historians suggest that even the king was not informed of the gravity of his state.
Charles’ decision to break with the past has paid dividends
The health authorities applauded the opening of the king, saying that his disclosure saved lives by encouraging thousands of men to pass prostate exams.
Royal experts say that Charles’s franchise also brought it closer to the public by demonstrating that he faces the same types of challenges they make. Health is, after all, the big leveler.
Why does Charles do so much?
The calendar in charge of Charles is a reminder that it is a man who waited for about seven decades to become a monarch and that he wants to get the most out of it.
The king was opened on his desire to demonstrate that the monarchy always has a role to play as a symbol of unity and tradition in the sometimes fractious and multicultural nation which is Great Britain of the 21st century.
And the work of a modern king is to participate in a whirlwind of public events, the statement of state occasions when he carries the crown and travels the streets of London in a carriage drawn to horses with more banal appearances such as the opening of public buildings or the awards ceremony for the public service.
Charles participated in 372 public commitments last year, even after erupting for almost three months due to cancer processing, according to data compiled by the Journal Times of London. This made him the second most frequent royal behind his sister, Princes Anne, who had 474 commitments.
Charles has been known for a long time as a work executioner, and Queen Camilla said last year that he “will not slow down and will not do what he had been told”. During her reading Literary Festival of Reading Salle in July, the Queen told the author Lee Child that her husband “was fine”, but had not taken into account her advice to reduce her schedule.
Prince Harry once said that his father worked so hard that he would fall asleep at his office and wake up with pieces of paper stuck on his face.
What do royal experts say?
The king’s scheduled schedule has masked the fact that he is an older man suffering from cancer, said Robert Hardman, author of “Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story”.
“We saw him return to normal,” Hardman told BBC on Friday.
“I think it is sort of a reminder that he is a head of state undergoing treatment for cancer, because I think many of us tend to forget it.”
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