The bad news keeps coming for the British royal family.
The announcement of King Charles III's cancer on Monday evening added to a particularly difficult start to the year for the Windsors, after Princess Kate's operation, on rest at least until Easter.
The 75-year-old king's cancer was announced in a statement late in the day by Buckingham Palace, to “avoid speculation”.
It specifies that the king has started treatment and has been advised by his doctors to suspend his public activities, without further details on the “form of cancer” from which he suffers.
However, he will continue “to take care of state affairs and administrative tasks as usual,” the press release said.
A statement from Buckingham Palace: https://t.co/zmYuaWBKw6
📷 Samir Hussein pic.twitter.com/xypBLHHQJb
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 5, 2024
Charles III, who succeeded his mother Elizabeth II almost a year and a half ago and was crowned on May 6, made public on January 17 that he had to be operated on for an enlarged prostate.
After an intervention in an upscale establishment in the center of the capital where he had spent three nights, he returned home on January 29, the Palace specifying that he would not immediately resume his commitments, "to allow a period of recovery ".
His cancer was discovered during this procedure.
He had been hospitalized in the same establishment as his daughter-in-law Kate, 42, who spent 13 days there in January, for an abdominal operation, the details of which have not been made public.
She was also released on January 29, for a long convalescence at her home in Windsor, scheduled to last at least until Easter, March 31.
Camilla on the front line
The hugely popular Princess of Wales has not been seen since Christmas.
Her husband Prince William, 41, heir to the crown, had suspended his activities after his wife's hospitalization on January 16.
The couple have three children, George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5.
William had just announced on Monday that he was going to take them back, when the king's cancer diagnosis was made public.
Also read: United Kingdom: how the irreplaceable Kate became “the most important person” in the royal family
And Sarah Ferguson, 64, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, brother of the king, announced on January 21 that she was suffering from malignant melanoma, a skin cancer.
Six months earlier, in June 2023, she had already announced that she had been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer.
The malignant melanoma was discovered during tests ordered by a dermatologist, while the Duchess of York was to undergo reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy.
Video.
King Charles III suffers from cancer
These successive health problems have almost halved the circle of active members of the royal family, and Queen Camilla, 76, is on the front line, with numerous engagements every week.
Charles' younger sister, Princess Anne, 73, is also present as is Prince Edward, 59, his youngest brother, and his wife Sophie.
But their activities are generally much less covered by the press.
The circle of active members of the British royal family has shrunk in recent years with the departure of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to the United States, and the sidelining of Prince Andrew after a sex scandal.
Also included are the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, 79 and 77 years old, Princess Alexandra, 87 years old, and the Duke of Kent, 88 years old.