For the first time, Queen Camilla has revealed how difficult it was to keep her husband King Charles’s cancer diagnosis secret before the official announcement.
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Her account is part of a film released to mark the 30th anniversary of Maggie’s, an organization that supports cancer patients. Camilla recalled visiting one of its centers on January 31, 2024, when she had to stop herself from revealing that Charles had already been diagnosed with cancer.
“I was desperate to get it off my chest, but of course I couldn’t,” Camilla said during a conversation with Maggie’s chief executive, Dame Laura Lee.
At the time, Charles was recovering from treatment for an enlarged prostate, while it had also been discovered that he had an unspecified form of cancer. Buckingham Palace publicly announced the diagnosis five days after Camilla’s visit, on February 5, 2024.
According to the queen, her time at the cancer center was particularly moving. She was surrounded by patients and relatives going through the same experience that the royal family was facing at the time.
“I almost said something, but I realized it wasn’t the right moment,” she said.
Camilla said the experience helped her understand even more deeply the important role that such centers play for both people with cancer and their families.
Describing Charles’s response to the illness, she said he did not allow the diagnosis to prevent him from fulfilling his public duties.
“Nothing stopped him. He simply said, ‘This is my way. This is how I’m going to deal with it,’” the queen recalled.
King Charles returned to public duties in April 2024, less than three months after beginning treatment.
Camilla also used the occasion to emphasize the need for psychological and emotional support for cancer patients and their loved ones. She called for every hospital to have a center of this kind.
