The royal tea has been spilled.
While King Charles publicly shared he had to undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate and was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, it is now being revealed that Queen Camilla wasn’t keen on her husband disclosing that information.
According to Robert Jobson, the author of the 2023 biography Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, the King, 75, made the decision to go forward with the news.
“Queen Camilla had initially been against disclosing his condition, but the King overruled her, as he felt it was a chance to take a lead, and in doing so to encourage men experiencing similar symptoms to seek timely medical attention,” he told The Independent on Wednesday.
The monarch underwent a procedure for a benign prostate condition in January. On Feb. 5, he revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Buckingham Palace said at the time, “No further details are being shared at this stage, except to confirm that His Majesty does not have prostate cancer.”
The public fled online to learn more despite the lack of details surrounding the King’s precise condition at the time.
“The NHS England page on benign prostate enlargement had more than 26,000 visits in the 48 hours after the announcement,” Jobson said, “compared to a daily average of just 1,400.”
The author also noted that the reason King Charles chose to be open was due to the rumors surrounding his late parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s health.
“He was lauded for doing so, with commentators saying he had ushered in a new era of transparency in matters of health and the royal family,” Jobson said.
After his diagnosis, the King took a step back from public-facing duties, with reports surfacing that he would be working on a reduced schedule before he returned to work in late April.
His daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton, would go on to reveal her own cancer diagnosis in March and that she’s been undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
While the Princess of Wales, 42, is focused on her recovery, she isn’t letting drama get in her way, according to Jobson.
“She’s very calm,” the royal expert told Hello! Magazine on Tuesday. “She’s a person who wants to find solutions and rise above the noise and the drama, and I think, given what she’s gone through, you don’t want to waste any time on noise, on drama, when you’ve had anything to do with your health.”
Jobson added, “You live day by day; you do the things you want to do.”
Although he didn’t detail the exact turmoil that the royal is steering clear of, there has been an ongoing rift in the family.
She and her husband, Prince William, 42, have been at odds with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle.
Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior working members of the royal family in 2020 and moved to the US, tensions have run high.
Jobson also noted that Kate has made it clear that she will not be “rushed into doing things that she doesn’t necessarily want to do.”
As for what those issues include? Well, returning to royal duties, for one.
“That takes quite a lot of courage because you’re in a very alienated world,” Jobson explained to the outlet. “But I think she realized that she only has one shot at this. She’s got three young children, and they have to come first.”
