Buckingham Palace hasn’t confirmed on or off the record when King Charles was actually diagnosed with cancer. It’s widely assumed that the diagnosis came around the same time as Charles was dealing with an enlarged prostate, for which he was in the hospital from January 26th through January 29th. Charles was discharged on the 29th, and Queen Camilla spent the rest of the week doing events across England. She was practically giddy, she had a Cheshire-cat grin and she was truly glowing with happiness. It would be cold as ice if Camilla was acting like that with the knowledge that Charles has cancer. It would also be cold as ice if she was purposefully spinning those stories about how she’s “practically ruling solo” and she’s “the last one standing.” Which is probably why it’s far more likely that the diagnosis came after Charles’s hospitalization, right? Maybe during the procedure, they found something and tests were run and maybe nothing was confirmed until late last week.

It would also make sense if everything really started happening in the past 72 hours, because right now it looks like the palace is kind of scrambling. Like, they’ve been caught flat-footed, understaffed and unprepared. The Times has a piece about how everything’s in flux or something.

Planned foreign state visits looked in doubt last night as a campaign began at the Palace to reassure the public in the face of the King’s cancer diagnosis. Previously scheduled trips to Australia and Canada may be pushed back and the King’s appearance at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa later this year is not guaranteed.

Yet plans are being made for public appearances from other senior members of the family. Hours before the news of the King’s condition was announced, it was preceded by a statement from Kensington Palace saying that the Prince of Wales would be returning to duties. Prince William was expected to remain off work while his wife continues her recovery from abdominal surgery, yet the surprise announcement in the morning revealed not one but two official engagements for William.

On Wednesday evening, William will travel to London to attend the annual fundraising gala for the London Air Ambulance.William, a former air ambulance pilot who served as a search and rescue helicopter pilot before moving to the East Anglian Air Ambulance service, became patron of the charity in 2020. He had previously supported the charity’s 30th anniversary in 2019, during which he flew with a crew and met staff and patients from the service at a number of fundraising events. The evening is likely to provide an opportunity for William to deliver a speech at a time when the royal family will be looking to him to lead the way.

The diary announcement is quite a change from his previous plan to remain by Kate’s side. His wife departed unseen from the London Clinic a week ago after spending nearly a fortnight recuperating from abdominal surgery.

With Kate absent from duties for many months, the Queen will step up with a Palace spokesman confirming: “Yes, Her Majesty will continue with a full programme of public duties.” Despite learning of her husband’s cancer diagnosis earlier that week, Camilla has indicated that she will carry on with public engagements.

Other senior members of the family will be drafted in to help. The Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are expected to be seen on duty.

[From The Times]

Is this just awkwardly worded or did they just say that Camilla has known since early last week? “Despite learning of her husband’s cancer diagnosis earlier that week”?? IDK. As for William’s events on Wednesday… so, I thought (and wrote) that William’s sudden schedule was all about Harry and Meghan’s plans to travel to Canada. While I’m sure that was a factor, William’s schedule change was definitely more about Charles. Also: while Charles has a lot of sh-t on his schedule which is “monarch only,” he also has regular old royal events which could be done by any member of the family. This continues to be strange to me, how Sophie, Camilla, Anne and Edward haven’t been sent out to cover for the Waleses and King Charles.

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