“King Charles has cancer.” The news has obviously spread around the world and should be no more surprising than news of any other illness that can strike a sovereign or head of state. If only Buckingham Palace would make the announcement fairly promptly, with a note explaining the diagnosis of the 75-year-old royal, who has been in office since September 22, 2022 but was only crowned in March last year, and how his public engagements remain “on pause” to devote himself to treatment. The cancer in question was discovered last week after an operation for a benign enlargement of the prostate. But, they continue, the cancer is not in the prostate: they don't say where or how serious it is, only that “it is treatable” and that Charles III. will from now on undergo a series of “regular treatments”. Despite it.
But knowing this is news. That is, the decision for transparency by Buckingham Palace, which is known to be very careful when it comes to keeping drafts out of the house, is above all news. There is no need to go back to George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father, who was diagnosed with a benign tumor in the early 1950s and which no one in the UK knew about – at other times communications were more centralized and controlled the people One could remain in the dark about many things, just remember that shortly after Kennedy became President of the United States, all of America ignored and would continue to ignore his health problems. If anything, we must return to last month and the mysterious “abdominal operation” of Kate, Princess of Wales and wife of the King's son William, which occurred almost simultaneously with that of Charles III. was carried out and was also surrounded by secrets. A fog spread there: for now all we know is that he is recovering from the operation. Rumors then say that the king is considering the possibility of abdicating in favor of his son if he lacks strength, but this is precisely an “unofficial” background.
Public announcements like this create a media stir and force other heads of state — who may have known about it themselves but had to keep it secret — to expose themselves (Biden was among many to say he was “concerned” and wanted to “call them”) as soon as possible as possible”) and open up speculation about the future of the royal family, including about a short-term successor. For this reason we usually choose the path of rigidity, indeterminacy and diplomacy. Instead, the news of King Charles' cancer, conveyed in this way, represents, in this sense, a small revolution in Buckingham Palace's communications, due to this, in the opinion of many, the inevitable redesign of the crown that began after the death of the Queen , so that the royal family appears “closer” to its subjects, with less ostentatious privileges and more humane. In health and illness.
