Queen Camilla confided how difficult it was for her to keep the illness of King Charles III a secret before the official announcement of his cancer in 2024, saying she had “wanted to say it”, in a video interview broadcast on Wednesday.
In a short film produced with the cancer support association Maggie’s, the 79-year-old wife of the British sovereign looks back on the days which preceded the revelation of the monarch’s illness.
“No one could say anything at the time. It was quite difficult,” she says in this video, published on the official account of the royal family on social networks. “I almost said something but I felt it wasn’t the time,” she adds.
Camilla particularly remembers a visit made on January 31, 2024 to a Maggie’s center at the Royal Free Hospital in London. By this date, Charles III had already received his cancer diagnosis, without the public being informed. Buckingham Palace would not announce the news until five days later, on February 5.
Still in treatment
“I just wanted to say it but obviously I couldn’t,” she explains during a filmed exchange with Laura Lee, general manager of Maggie’s, who salutes the courage shown by the queen during this period.
Charles III, now 77 years old, is still continuing his treatment against a form of cancer which has never been publicly specified. He announced in December 2025 that his condition had improved and that his treatment would be reduced.
In the video, Camilla also discusses the king’s behavior after his diagnosis. “Nothing stopped him. He simply said: ‘This is my way, I’m going to get through this,’” she says.
The queen explains that the announcement of her husband’s illness also allowed her to better understand the situation of relatives of cancer patients. “Suddenly it’s your husband who gets a diagnosis and you have to help him and try to understand everything,” she emphasizes.
The revelation of the king’s cancer came a month before that of the cancer of Princess Kate, wife of the heir to the throne William. In January 2025, she announced that she was in remission.
