It is coming up to almost two years since the King revealed he had received a cancer diagnosis – but it seems Queen Camilla was unsure about him making it so public
The King brought early Christmas cheer when he revealed the “good news” that his cancer treatment was being reduced. In a candid personal address broadcast on Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer, Charles revealed it was down to early diagnosis, successful care and following “doctors’ orders”.
And he also used the message to urge people to to seek information about cancer screenings available to them to aid early detection. It comes as the King has won praise for speaking out about his cancer journey and highlighting the importance of checks. However, it seems his wife Queen Camilla was initially sceptical about him speaking out about his diagnosis.
READ MORE: Kate Middleton’s moving note revealed after emotional surprise cancer outingREAD MORE: Disgraced Andrew’s ‘ramshackle home revealed’ as items moved from Royal Lodge
According to the Sunday Times, when Charles received his diagnosis, she intially believed it should remain private, fearing how public scrutiny could affect his recovery. But after seeing the huge numbers seeking out information on checks and screenings, she reportedly thinks her husband’s decision for “openness and transparency” is the right one.
A source close to the couple said: “Both of them now unequivocally think that being so open has been hugely positive — positive for public engagement with raising awareness around cancer and also personally for him in terms of how public good has come from personal misfortune.”
The King has been receiving weekly cancer treatment since his diagnosis, but this is to be reduced in the New Year. He revealed in his message on Channel 4: “Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives. Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.
“Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders’, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty per cent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”
Charles, who wore a Stand Up To Cancer lapel pin, also spoke from his own experience of feeling overwhelmed when receiving a cancer diagnosis, but used his address to stress the importance of early detection, saying it’s ‘troubling’ people aren’t taking up cancer screening available to them.
He explained: “Throughout my own cancer journey, I have been profoundly moved by what I can only call the ‘community of care’ that surrounds every cancer patient – the specialists, the nurses, researchers and volunteers who work tirelessly to save and improve lives.
But I have also learned something that troubles me deeply – at least nine million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them. That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.”
He added: “Yet too often, I am told, people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable. If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.
“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told they don’t need further tests, or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”
This year’s Stand Up To Cancer campaign coincides with the launch of a new national screening tool, screeningchecker.co.uk, which, for the first time, enables the public to determine what cancer screening programmes may be available to them.
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply