King’s stepson shares anxiety over Charles’ health
Tom Parker Bowles, King Charles’ stepson, has spoken candidly about his concerns for Charles’ health. Queen Camilla’s son told People how the monarch’s cancer diagnosis has been “very worrying.”
The king has an undisclosed form of cancer for which he is receiving weekly treatment. However, this treatment was paused during his trip to the southern hemisphere last week. “It’s a terrifying disease, and when someone close to you gets it in whatever capacity, it’s a very worrying thing,” Parker Bowles said, adding: “But my mother is strong as well. She supports him in every way. I think it’s wonderful to have someone you love by your side.”
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Parker Bowles, who is promoting a new book about royal eating habits, continued “He is doing what he can. He’s following the advice of his doctors. Fingers crossed, touch wood.”
Speaking about his mother he said: “I’m incredibly proud of her. She’s at an age when most people think of retiring, but she never complains; she just gets on with it.”
Say my name
Prince William has uttered his brother Prince Harry’s name for what the Mail calculates is the first time in six years. The context is a documentary about fighting homelessness that William has made, in which he recalls his mother taking him and his brother to homeless shelters as children.
In one, scene William says: “My mother took me to [homeless shelter] the Passage, she took Harry and I both there... I’d never been to anything like that before and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect.”
Whether this counts as a “a conciliatory step” as the Mail claims is open for debate given that earlier this year William and Kate publicly wished Harry a happy 40th birthday on social media, only for William to studiously ignore Harry when he attended their uncle’s funeral a few weeks later.
King Charles plots a globe-trotting 2025
King Charles plans to return to a “full program” of spring and autumn foreign tours in 2025, the U.K. Sunday Times reports. Still receiving treatment for an unspecified cancer, Charles “hopes to survive long enough” to return to Samoa, where Charles attended the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) this past few days after a first high-profile sortie to Australia.
Aides told the Times that Charles had “thrived” by working throughout his illness. Two doctors accompanied him to Australia; Charles had “genuinely loved” his first overseas trip since his diagnosis. Charles had taken a “mind, body and soul” approach to his treatment.
“It is a great measure of the way that the King is dealing with the diagnosis,” a senior palace official told the Times of the 11-day trip. “He’s a great believer in mind, body and soul. The doctor is here to make sure that his body is properly looked after. [The trip] has lifted his spirits, his mood and his recovery. In that sense, the tour—despite its demands—has been the perfect tonic.”
The Times reports that Buckingham Palace is liaising with the British government on which tours Charles and Queen Camilla will undertake next year. “It is understood the plans are subject to sign-off by Charles’s medical team,” the paper reports, a royal noting, “The King gets great strength from the queen being there, not least because she keeps it real.”
Charles and Camilla return home today, Sunday. A senior palace official told the Times: “It’s great testament to the King’s devotion to service and duty that he was prepared to come this far and he was incredibly happy and very determined to do so. We’re now working on a pretty normal-looking, full overseas tour program for next year, which is a high for us to end [this trip] on, to know that we can be thinking in those terms.”
Kate’s low profile
One person who probably won’t be flying around the world on a full schedule of royal travel any time soon, by contrast, is Kate Middleton. The princess is picking and choosing her public appearances with great care these days, and it has now been reported that, despite declaring herself “cancer-free” earlier this year, she will not be attending the Earthshot Awards in South Africa next month, according to the Daily Mail.
Her absence is unsurprising but notable given that the prize, which sees a flat £1 million prize ($1.25 million) awarded annually to five technological attempts to fight the climate crisis, is widely seen as William’s signature initiative.
A friend of the couple has previously told The Daily Beast that Kate’s “brush with mortality” after she was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year had meant she will focus more on raising her young family and les son public duties until the tie comes for her to step into the role of queen.
This week in royal history
On Oct. 31, 1955, Princess Margaret announced she wouldn’t marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. In a statement, she said: “I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But, mindful of the Church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others.”
She continued: “I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Townsend.”
Unanswered questions
Are there signs of a William and Harry reconciliation? Will King Charles realize his plan to return to a full diary of foreign tours?
