King Charles delivered an “instinctive and decidedly unregal” response after informing senior aides of his cancer diagnosis, a royal expert has claimed.
In February last year, the monarch received devastating news: he had been diagnosed with cancer. The announcement, shared privately with close aides, marked the start of a challenging chapter for King Charles—one that revealed his character in an unusually candid way.
According to the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English, Charles gathered key members of his team to relay the troubling news. Unsurprisingly, the reaction was one of disbelief.
“Oh, that’s a right bugger,” one aide reportedly exclaimed, immediately panicking inwardly, fearing that the casual comment might have been inappropriate.
However, the King’s response surprised everyone in the room. “His Majesty’s lips twitched before he broke into laughter. ‘Yes, it is a bit of a bugger, isn’t it,’ he chuckled,” English revealed.
She characterised the exchange as “an instinctive and decidedly unregal reaction, but one that characterises Charles’s response to his diagnosis.”
The incident highlighted the King’s ability to confront adversity with humour—a trait that has consistently defined his approach to both official duties and personal challenges. This private display of resilience reflected the same determination Charles showed publicly when, on December 12, he updated the nation on his health.
In a video message for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, broadcast on Channel 4, the King revealed that early detection and “effective intervention” had allowed him to reduce his treatment.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care,” he said, using the moment not only to inform the public but also to encourage everyone to prioritise their own health. Medical professionals and former aides have praised the King for turning his personal experience into an opportunity to raise awareness, while remaining candid about the seriousness of his condition.
Behind closed doors, however, his determination to maintain his workload has posed challenges for those in his inner circle. “I think when he first received his diagnosis and wasn’t clear which way this was going to go, it made him more determined than ever to keep going as fast as possible because there was so much more he wanted to achieve,” a source revealed.
King Charles was persuaded to step back temporarily from public duties only after medical professionals warned him about the heightened risk of secondary infections in the initial period following surgery and treatment. Even now, with a clearer understanding of his condition, his drive shows no signs of abating.
“Even now that he realises it isn’t going to be a race against time, he still wants to change the world,” the insider added.
Buckingham Palace announced the King’s cancer diagnosis on 6 February last year, prompting an almost three-month hiatus from all public engagements.
The month prior, Charles had spent three nights in hospital for treatment of an enlarged prostate, during which the cancer—unrelated to his prostate—was discovered.
On the advice of medical experts, the exact type of cancer has not been disclosed, enabling the King to maintain a connection with all cancer patients, while the length of his treatment programme remains unknown.
Following positive progress in his care, Charles resumed official duties at the start of the year, and this momentum has continued despite what insiders described as a “minor bump” in March, when he required a brief hospital stay due to temporary side effects from his treatment.