Queen Camilla has shared for the first time her struggle to keep King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis private. This revelation came during a visit to a cancer support center just five days before Buckingham Palace officially announced the diagnosis.
On January 31, 2024, Camilla opened a new Maggie’s center at the Royal Free Hospital in London. At that time, Charles had already received his cancer diagnosis, which had not yet been made public, although it was known that he was recovering from treatment for an enlarged prostate. Buckingham Palace announced the cancer diagnosis on February 5. Camilla, who is president of Maggie’s, said knowing about her husband’s diagnosis changed the way she spoke to cancer patients and their families during the visit. “I remember coming to see a Maggie’s just after the king being diagnosed. Nobody could say anything at the time. That was quite difficult,” she said. The remarks appear in a seven-minute anniversary film posted on Wednesday to the Royal Family and Maggie’s YouTube channels. Camilla was filmed speaking with Maggie’s chief executive Dame Laura Lee at Clarence House, news agency The Guardian reported.
'I almost said something’, says Queen Camilla
Looking back at her January 2024 visit, Camilla said: “I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn’t the time to say.” “[I] looked at everybody who was suffering and all the relations and I think it made me realise even more how important these places were.” She told Lee: “I was just longing to let it out but obviously I couldn’t.” Camilla said her conversations with people at the centre also felt different because of what she knew about Charles. She found herself “almost questioning them”, but said she did not “want to pry too deeply”. “But normally when I went in, I was just talking to them, but I don’t know, I felt it was much more deep,” she said. Buckingham Palace said on February 5, 2024, that a separate issue of concern had been detected while Charles was being treated for benign prostate enlargement. Further tests identified a form of cancer, though the palace did not disclose which type. Charles began regular treatment and put public-facing engagements on hold while continuing state business and official paperwork.
Camilla says diagnosis changed life at home
Camilla said her experience of meeting people affected by cancer took on a different meaning once the illness directly affected her family. “It had never really come back to roost at home, and suddenly your husband is diagnosed, and you think ‘Goodness I’ve been talking to all these people and now I’m the one with some relation, who’s got to help to look after my poor husband and try and understand it all.’” She became president of Maggie’s in 2008 and has visited 18 of its 27 UK centres, many more than once. The charity opened its first centre in Edinburgh in 1996. Charles resumed public-facing duties on April 30, 2024, less than three months after treatment began, visiting the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London with Camilla. Speaking about his determination to continue working, Camilla said: “Look at my husband. Nothing stopped him. He just said, ‘This is my way. I’m going to cope with it.’” In December 2025, Charles said early diagnosis and effective intervention meant his cancer-treatment schedule could be reduced in 2026.
Maggie’s aims for 60 UK centres
Camilla also used the film to draw attention to Maggie’s work with families and its efforts to encourage more men affected by cancer to seek support. Maggie’s offers free psychological, emotional and practical help without requiring an appointment or referral. Its 27 centres operate alongside major NHS cancer hospitals across the UK and help hundreds of thousands of people annually. Camilla said every hospital should have a Maggie’s centre. Maggie’s aims to have a centre at all 60 major cancer hospitals in the UK.
