'DOING WELL'

Charles’ Secret Trip to Indian Spa With Wacky Cancer Therapy

The king’s use of alternative therapies has helped him through his cancer journey, one friend told The Daily Beast.

King Charles has made a secret visit to an Indian wellness and healing center which claims its treatments can help with “early cancer” and promotes itself as a provider of “supportive and palliative cancer care.”

The king, who famously said he talks to the trees at his Highgrove estate, was diagnosed with cancer in February.

Charles and Queen Camilla stopped over at the Soukya Spa in Bengaluru for a private visit on their way home from their tour of Australia and Samoa without notifying media, and despite a rule that the royals are not supposed to combine private trips with official ones. A spokesperson said the trip was “private” and they would be back in the U.K. today (Wednesday).

The spa was founded by Dr. Issac Mathai MD (Hom), MRCH (Lon), a naturopath revered in his field who attended Charles’ coronation.

Dr Mathai is known to believe that traditional cures can help cancer sufferers, and operates a number of free, community clinics across India, especially in remote locations, as well as luxury spas.

The website for the Soukya group says “classical Homeopathic medicine” works “in harmony with nature’s efforts to correct physiological and psychological imbalances” and adds: “Homeopathy is particularly effective in allergic respiratory conditions, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, early cancer and AIDS. Counseling, nutrition and dietary advice and breathing techniques form a part of the treatment.”

Mathai once told the Times of India: “I won’t say we have cured cancer, but along with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, alternative medicine is prescribed for effective pain management.” Many clinics in India, including state-run hospitals, incorporate both traditional and hi-tech approaches to treating cancer as part of an “integrated” approach.

Although Charles is understood to have taken a holistic approach to his cancer treatment in general, an official source told The Daily Beast that the king had not received alternative therapies for his cancer at the spa.

However the unannounced break will put renewed focus on the king’s use of non-Western and holistic therapies as he fights cancer, which was diagnosed in February and for which he continues to receive treatment on a weekly basis.

The stopover was not reported in the U.K. media, with no suggestion from the press corps accompanying Charles on the tour that the king was doing anything other than heading directly home this weekend. There used to be a strictly enforced rule that the royals were not supposed to combine private trips with official work trips, and this was the working assumption of journalists covering the trip. The Indian break—which is understood to have lasted three nights, with palace officials now saying the king will get home today (Wednesday)—is especially surprising as the king has been receiving weekly conventional treatments (understood to be radiotherapy) which were “paused” for the overseas tour. The general understanding was that it would be best if this pause could be as short as possible.

Palace sources were forced to confirm that Charles and Camilla had indeed stopped at the Soukya Spa in Bengalaru after reports appeared in Indian media. Charles has visited the centre nine times previously, and Camila also stopped over there on the way out to Australia.

The New Indian Express said Charles was receiving “wellness treatment” a the spa, adding, “the couple’s day begins with a morning yoga session, followed by breakfast and rejuvenation treatment before lunch. After a brief rest, a second round of therapies follows, ending with a meditation session before dinner and lights out by 9 pm. They have been enjoying long walks around the campus, visiting the organic farm and cattle shed.”

A friend of the king’s told The Daily Beast: “He has always taken a holistic approach to health and it has served him well over the past year, he is doing fantastically well.”

As The Daily Beast has previously reported, the king’s advocacy for complementary medicine has not been without controversy, especially after he was (briefly) appointed president of the British Medical Association. At his inaugural address back in 1982 he urged the scientific body to investigate alternative therapies used by faith healers which took account of the patient’s “physical and social environment, as well as his relation to the cosmos.”

In 2010, the BMA declared: “Homeopathy is witchcraft,” in a definitive split with Charles’ views.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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