People Magazine regularly features members of the British royal family on their covers, but I’ve gotten so used to People’s Photoshop elves working their magic on the royal photos, I actually did a double-take when I saw this cover. I get it, they wanted a photo where King Charles looked old, but yikes. This is very harsh. As you can see, People Magazine has devoted this week’s cover to King Charles’s health crisis, his cancer and treatment. Much like the Princess of Wales’s mysterious abdominal surgery, palace sources were “shocked” when the palace made the announcement on Monday. Here’s an excerpt from the cover story:
Although the statement offered few details, the palace did reveal that when Charles underwent his prostate procedure, a separate issue of concern was detected, and “subsequent diagnostic tests have revealed the presence of a form of cancer.” (The type of cancer has not been disclosed in keeping with the palace’s tight-lipped approach to medical conditions, but it is not prostate cancer, a spokesman confirmed.)
“In time we might know,” Robert Hardman, author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “but for now, there is a feeling that they have been pretty open.”
The King has begun “regular treatments” and will postpone public duties, the palace statement added, noting that Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”
Those close to the family were taken aback by the announcement. “I was really shocked when I heard it,” says a palace insider.
Adds a source who knows him, “He has not looked himself. I put it down to grief—he’d had two deaths close together [his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in Sept. 2022 and his father, Prince Philip in April 2021]—but maybe he wasn’t well, without realizing so. It would take it out of him.”
The news comes just nine months into Charles’s reign and only 17 months after the death of Queen Elizabeth at age 96.
The potential for increased responsibilities for the king’s son and heir, William, 41, once again highlighted the royal family’s thinned ranks since the departure of Charles’s younger son Prince Harry, 39, and the removal of Charles’s scandal-plagued brother Prince Andrew, 63.
Says a palace insider: “He will want to get on with the job. But that will depend on what treatment he is having. It may be utterly draining on him. He will need a lot of support.”
I’m surprised that People Mag included this quote: “He has not looked himself. I put it down to grief.” If I’m being honest, I think Charles has aged a lot in the past two years, even if he had some big moments where he appeared to be having the time of his life (especially since he became king). But absolutely, his color has been off for a while and his fingers always look so swollen and uncomfortable. I’ve been thinking about the Princess of Wales too, and wondering how long she’s been dealing with her health issues, because you could make the argument that, like Charles, her appearance changed somewhat dramatically over the past year. Kate and Charles’s health crises seemed to take a lot of palace insiders by surprise too. Hm.
Last October, Charles and Camilla were the guests of honor at a dinner at Mansion House. I remember looking at the photos (below) and thinking that Charles did not look well.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.
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- King Charles III And Queen Camilla Visit France – Day One In Versailles King Charles III, VERSAILLES, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 20 King Charles III, Brigitte Macron and President of France Emmanuel Macron arrive at the Palace of Versailles ahead of the State Dinner held in honor of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the Hall of Mirrors of the Chateau de Versailles on September 20, 2023 in Versailles, France. The King and The Queen’s first state visit to France will take place in Paris, Versailles and Bordeaux from Wednesday 20th to Friday 23rd 2023. The visit had been initially scheduled for March 26th – 29th but had to be postponed due to mass strikes and protests.,Image: 807050672, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Franck Castel / Avalon
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- London, UK 07th Nov 2023. HRH King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the carriage. The Royal Procession and carriage, on the procession route following the King’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament .,Image: 820443545, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon
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- Image Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. 12/11/2023. London, United Kingdom. King Charles III at the Remembrance Sunday service at The Cenotaph in London.,Image: 821567741, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / i-Images / Avalon
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- TETBURY, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 13: King Charles III’s shares a joke with a guest as he attends his 75th birthday party hosted by the Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove House on November 13, 2023 in Tetbury, England. Guests include local residents who have been nominated by friends and family and individuals and organisations also turning 75 in 2023.,Image: 821847121, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla depart London Clinic, London, England, UK on Monday 29 January, 2024 where the King was undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate.,Image: 841600401, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive to attend a dinner at Mansion House in London, to recognise the work of the City of London civic institutions and Livery Companies, the city’s ancient and modern trade guilds. Featuring: King George III, Camilla Queen Consort Where: London, United Kingdom When: 18 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III arrives to attend a dinner at Mansion House in London, to recognise the work of the City of London civic institutions and Livery Companies, the city’s ancient and modern trade guilds. Featuring: King George III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 18 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive to attend a dinner at Mansion House in London, to recognise the work of the City of London civic institutions and Livery Companies, the city’s ancient and modern trade guilds. Featuring: King George III, Camilla Queen Consort Where: London, United Kingdom When: 18 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
William not stepping up on duties is the obvious problem not dwelt on by people.
But look at the mag cover, it says “Prince William steps up.” I found that hilarious.
The courtiers keep thinking (erroneously) that if they keep putting that narrative out, that eventually it will come true. Delusional thinking, of course; William will only ever do what William wants to do, without a whiff of regard for anyone else.
I watched a lot of U.K. news clips last night and one of those RRs said that they knew both Charles and Camilla have been unwell for a while. Knowing Charles, it’s possible he tried some alternative medicine to deal urinary issues before he acquiesced to going under the knife.
lol. I love how royal “reporters” report things after RF makes it public. They said “knew it” for every thing H&M revealed too.
My favorite part was them thinking it was “grief”. Like, Charlie has been downright giddy since Elizabeth died so no, he hasn’t felt a deep grief.
The way the media is trying to rewrite history and make Charles into a loving son rather than a manipulative employee of the queen would be hilarious if it wasn’t so manipulative itself.
He’s had a sickly palor for some time. If the prognosis is actually good, they would give us more information about the type and stage of the cancer. It sounds like even the high level palace courtiers don’t have any idea what’s going on.
US presidents age really fast. The monarch doesn’t have quite that same level of pressure and lack of sleep, but we haven’t ever observed a monarch in the tv age adjusting to the new role. Liz undoubtedly aged quite a bit in her first few years but she was extremely young and not shown in videos daily.
Starting a new job at 75 is not ideal. The Queen had such a long reign that it was inevitable that Charles would take on the role when he was too old. Suddenly the house of cards is crumbling a bit, but William is too busy DoInG tHe sChOoL ruNn to actually step up.
This is good. PW not doing much, KC stepping back, Cam probably stepping back to look after Charles, Kate recuperating, the other royals not drawing much attention while running around ribbon-cutting. Maybe more people will see how completely unnecessary it is to have a big (or any) RF.
Not only has he taken on all the work, duties and responsibilities of the monarch but, because of William’s laziness refusing to get involved, he also has had to continue running the Prince of Wales’s Prince’s Trust & The Prince’s Foundation as well.
It was announced I think late last year that both organisations had been re-named The King’s Trust and The King’s Foundation, reflecting the refusal of the current PoW to help.
It’s no wonder Charles is ill, he’ll get precious little sleep juggling all those balls every day.
It’s scandalous that William is getting away with doing minimal engagements, if he won’t work – doing at least as many engagements as his father – then his funding must be reduced with immediate effect. I’m sure the Duchy of Cornwall tenants will be delighted to have their rents reduced by 50%. And W’s shiny new £130,000 Audi E-Tron supercar can go back to the dealer.
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Charles is not heavily involved in the day-to-day running of his Trust or his Foundation. Both will continue on well after he dies.
To me the cover picture looks like a normal shot of a 75 year old man who’s spent time outdoors during his life (and a lot better than Cam’s skin looks in her unretouched shots). I wonder when it was taken. He does look unhealthy in the Mansion house picture.
Change is hard in general but it’s especially hard in your mid-70s. Charles has had edema (the swollen fingers) so that’s not new. But his paleness is. I think the change of being King has hit him hard. Probably harder than he was expecting it to.
I would not have noticed the hands had you not shown them. He’s definitely inflamed. Aging is no joke and inflammation is increasingly a problem for me. Whatever is going on with KC, I wish him speedy recovery. Also, as an aside Ms. Kate, she is the right age for fibroid/endo/hysterectomy surgery. While pure speculation, when you have that surgery you’re pretty much out of commission for a while. It takes a long time to FULLY recover. Like KC, I wish her a speedy recovery.
I’ve had both fibroid surgery, and later a hysterectomy. With the hysterectomy (which was complicated because of a lot of old scar tissue from previous procedures), I was in the hospital for 2 days and back at work the following week. Her weeks/months long absence and convalescence makes little sense unless she had or has some very very serious going on.
I think, the Spanish press probably has it at least partly right. I think it was a standard procedure, where they thought she would be back within a few days or a week, and with her light schedule no one would realize, which is why they did not announce it beforehand or cancel events, even though it was planned. And then there was a complication either during the surgery or after, e.g. infection with multiresistent hospital germs or sth. Not sure she really went into a coma, but any surgery with complications or a post op infection can take you out for weeks.
I had multiple surgeries for rampant ovarian/fallopian tumours culminating in a lengthy hysterectomy because, like FuzzyBritches, I had major complications with old scar tissue. I was in hospital for 3 days, back to work part-time after 2 weeks and full-time after 4. Whatever’s going on with Kate (and by extension MIA William) is wayyyyy more serious than the story the media is pushing.
Eh, I guess his color has been off but for a while there he was wearing extremely obvious, poorly matched foundation which contributed to his weird look.
Is it really grief or just the pressures of being King? Diana said he didn’t have the temperament to be monarch.
People mag is idiotic. It’s been 17 months since Charles came to the throne, nine since the coronation.
Agreed, it’s a strange way to word the distinction, he was king as soon as she died even if the coronation wasn’t until the following year.
Exactly! All these years covering the royals and they still screw up the most basic stuff.
Yes, they don’t seem to understand that.
They’ve been trying to disguise his pallor by using foundation for a while now. I think his condition is more serious than the palace is admitting and, as with Kate’s health, they’ve been bounced into going public because both of them have to step back from their public facing duties; they’re trying to control the narrative by appearing “transparent” with Charles’ diagnosis while KP is sticking to the usual M.O. Harry coming over so quickly after the announcement is a clear indication of how serious things are.
I have not one lick of sympathy for Charles. All of his “troubles” are of his own making. I’m not going to list his “transgressions” but merely say that he has brought much if this “sadness” upon himself. He is spoiled, selfish, an unbelievably bad father and husband, narcissistic, arrogant and certainly not a role model to his children or grandchildren.
However, I am consistently amazed at who Harry has become. He is a kind and compassionate man who has taken an considerably appalling upbringing and risen far, far above it. Well done! I’m sure he had support from his grandparents, his Spencer family and the remarkable Meghan Markle.
and her mother.
Cancer is not karma but the way we cope with it is a definitive look into our character. Believe me, I know of where I speak,, my parents both fought a magnificent battle against congestive heart failure,my mother going both blind and deaf at that time. My husband is bed bound from brain damage caused by seizures, my sister died of pancreatic cancer. This is not karma, but life, and the way Harry has chosen to react to the unkindness of his father and brother is a magnificent act of karma in itself. Positive and compassionate.
Whatever lies ahead for Charles and William is of their own making. Grow up, gentlemen.
Everything you stated here about Charles is *chef’s kiss* perfectly accurate.
“In time we might know, but for now, there is a feeling that they have been pretty open.”
—What??