King Charles III reveals major cancer progress in video update
King Charles III has reached a milestone in his cancer recovery.
The British monarch, 77, revealed his treatment for cancer can be reduced in the next year in a personal video message broadcast Friday as part of Stand Up to Cancer 2025.
The campaign, a collaboration between Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 in the country, launched earlier this month with the intent to spread awareness about the importance of early diagnosis and raise money for research into the illness.
“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,” Charles said. “This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years.”
The message was pre-recorded in November from the Morning Room in Charles and Queen Camilla’s official home at Clarence House.
In a statement Friday, Buckingham Palace added that Charles has “responded exceptionally well to treatment,” and his doctors are advising that his treatment be downgraded to a “precautionary phase.”
“This position will be continuously monitored and reviewed to protect and prioritize his continued recovery,” the palace said. “As The King has said, this milestone on his recovery journey is ‘a great personal blessing.’”
Charles has slowly returned to royal duties this year, following treatment for an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. He was hospitalized earlier this year after experiencing side effects amid his care.
Despite his candor on his cancer experience, the king does not plan on publicly discussing the type of cancer he’s been battling.
“The advice from cancer experts is that, in his determination to support the whole cancer community, it is preferable that His Majesty does not address his own specific condition but rather speaks to those affected by all forms of the disease,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement Friday.
Charles’ cancer battle coincided with that of his daughter-in-law, Princess Kate, who announced a month after the king that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
Kate called her diagnosis a “huge shock” for her family in a video release by the palace at the time, adding that she and Prince William have done “everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
In January, Kate announced that she was in remission.
“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she wrote in a social media post at the time. “I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.”