Queen Camilla says it was difficult to keep King Charles’ cancer diagnosis private

Britain’s Queen Camilla has spoken publicly for the first time about how hard it was to keep her husband King Charles’ cancer diagnosis initially private.

Britain’s Queen Camilla has spoken publicly for the first time about how hard it was to keep her husband King Charles’ cancer diagnosis initially private.

Buckingham Palace revealed in February 2024 that the British monarch was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. He is still receiving treatment but said last December than an early diagnosis and effective intervention meant this could be scaled back.

A week before the palace made the announcement, Camilla visited a Maggie’s cancer support center at a London hospital and in a video released on behalf of the charity on Wednesday, she said it had been hard not to talk about her husband’s own illness.

Princess Kate also spoke publicly about her cancer diagnosis.Max Mumby/Indigo / via Getty Images“Nobody could say anything at the time, that was quite difficult,” Camilla told Laura Lee, the chief executive of Maggie’s of which the queen is president.

“I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn’t the time to say, (I) looked at everybody who was suffering and all the relations, and I think it made me realize even more how important these places were. I was just longing to let it out but obviously I couldn’t.”