Royal expert explains why King Charles may never reveal diagnosis

06 February 2024 , 16:07

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King Charles made the decision to disclose his cancer diagnosis to the public (Image: Getty Images)

King Charles's decision to share his cancer diagnosis with the public was not only to show his support to others battling the disease - it also served to highlight how indiscriminate it is.

Each year, around 393,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer, and the news will be no less daunting for the King. However, the Palace is taking an upbeat approach and while he's been advised to step back from public duties he hopes to continue his constitutional work.

It is not known what form of cancer the King has - the Palace has only confirmed that it is not prostate cancer. And, according to royal expert Robert Hardman, that information may not come. During an appearance on Radio 4's Today Show on Tuesday, he noted: "It's all about precedent and if you set a precedent of giving all the details, all the time, immediately, for any patient that can be troubling. So I think that they're going to want to let information out as and when it feels appropriate."

Charles and Camilla pictured leaving from Clarence House this afternoon (AFP via Getty Images)

He added: "I think there's a sense, 'We've been open enough thus far, if you need to know more, you will. But that's what we're saying for now. We want to hold something back because everybody does.'"

Hardman, author of Charles III. New King. New Court. The Inside Story, further said that the announcement reminded him of the early days of Covid, when people asked how such a public-facing institution would survive the pandemic.

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But, he notes, they found new ways of operating, and managed "very well".

He suggested that the King may resort to Zoom meetings, like the Queen did during the pandemic. And while there will be moments when King Charles' absence will be most pronounced - possibly on Commonwealth Day in March - the "day to day running of monarchy will not really change".

Elsewhere in the programme, Lord Dobbs, a Conservative peer who is himself a cancer survivor, said that King had done a "great thing" by sharing his cancer diagnosis with the public.

The Conservative peer - perhaps best known as author of the House of Cards novels - knows the King and Queen, and was born on the same day as Charles.

Taking an optimistic view, he said it is "easy to overdo the gloom", noting that the disease is "eminently survivable", and the Palace's announcement encourages the public not to treat it as something "appalling".

Getting an early diagnosis, Dobbs says, is "safer, it's simpler, and it gives much greater survivability". "It's a modern look from a modern monarchy about a very old-fashioned problem."

Gemma Strong