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Queen Camilla has given a startling glimpse into the most damaging week of her husband’s reign. In new comments, Camilla recalled opening a cancer support center at the Royal Free Hospital in north-west London on January 31, 2024—two days after the King had been discharged from hospital, and five days before Buckingham Palace announced to the world that he had cancer, which was presented a landmark act of royal transparency. What actually happened was that Charles, discovering he was suffering from a benign—non-cancerous—enlarged prostate, spied a terrific public-relations opportunity. But unforeseen things can always occur. The King was admitted on January 26 for his routine, nothing-to-worry-about procedure—and was told he actually had cancer. He was discharged on January 29. On January 31, his newly informed wife was dispatched to open a cancer center. On February 5, the palace hurriedly released its bombshell announcement. The much-vaunted new transparency swiftly evaporated, with the palace refusing to say what kind of cancer the King had, other than that it wasn’t of the prostate. The reaction was the entirely predictable result of going public before the diagnosis was properly digested. The palace has been trying to unwind the mistake ever since—unaware that the fallout was only beginning.
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