The British Royal Family is having a really rough start of the year. Fresh in our memories is the double announcement of both King Charles and Kate Middleton's surgeries that took place in January. Now, just after being released from the hospital for an operation due to an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III has been diagnosed with ‘a form of cancer’.
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In their statement, available in full on the Royal Family’s Instagram, not much detail is revealed. So far, all we know is that the King has ‘commenced a schedule of regular treatments’ and that the monarchy will stay out of public engagements while undertaking said treatments.
Such a statement is already quite a feat for the Royal Family who, historically, has chosen to keep medical issues under wraps. But the effort doesn’t seem to be enough for Piers Morgan.
Piers Morgan urges the King to share more
The TalkTV presenter took to X to share his opinion on the King’s announcement. In the morning of Tuesday 6 February, less than a day after the cancer news shook people around the globe, Morgan chose to complain about the lack of further information. He wrote:
Increasingly untenable for Buckingham Palace not to say what cancer King Charles III has got. Speculation is running riot all over the world. If, as I’m sure he does, Charles wants to help others, far better to be specific about his condition?
A few minutes after the previous post, Morgan answered one of his followers and added:
Can’t blame the media… the Palace gave specific details about the King’s recent prostate surgery, seems inconsistent to now keep his type of cancer secret.
Though, it is the norm for Piers Morgan to be a controversial figure, it seems like even his followers aren’t with him on this one. Under his first post some comments say:
Come on Piers. He is entitled to some confidentiality. Don't be rude.
There is no need for him to disclose it & the media should respect his decision
Look I don't like the Royals but this is a terrible take. You have no right to know anything about it, nobody but his family do.
However, though Morgan’s opinion may not look the most ethical and appropriate, the journalist’s comments bring up something interesting. With his enlarged prostate diagnosis, King Charles chose to break the norm and be more transparent with the public about his health.
Now, maybe sooner than he and his team expected, appears the limit of transparency: where does it stop?
By giving a little, isn’t it normal for people to want more without having ill intentions?
King Charles’ cancer diagnosis is already making history
As mentioned above, King Charles already avoided tradition when in January he decided to announce he was planning to have surgery and what for. At the time, we reported that the usual thing for the Royal Family was to wait until after the surgery had taken place to release a statement. That is the tradition the Princess of Wales herself followed.
Of course, a cancer diagnosis and an enlarged prostate are not the same thing and they don’t require the same treatment, hence the difference in announcements. Moreover, looking back, the last British monarch to have cancer was Queen Elizabeth’s father King George VI.
At the time, his condition was kept private. As The Telegraph explains, the cancer diagnosis was kept from ‘the public, the medical profession – and even the king himself.’ There is a strong reason behind this: cancer is scary. For a family that is also a Firm, fear is not good.
More so now, when the British monarchy is fragile - it has a new regent, it lacks working royals and it’s less popular. The Palace’s desire to share the King’s diagnosis is therefore somehow brave and a clear sign of modernity. As the statement explains, there is the desire to ‘assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.’
The King therefore appears more human.
A human who will now require his family around him. Prince William should be back at work this week and Prince Harry is rumoured to be making his way to the UK.
Maybe the public and the press, and Piers Morgan can wait for more details, as family here should come before the Firm.
Read more:
⋙ Sarah Ferguson: Everything we know about the Duchess’ skin cancer diagnosis
⋙ Lady Diana: Unexpected claims about King Charles' first wife and Prince Andrew made by royal author
Sources:
The Telegraph: King’s public battle a far cry from George VI’s secret illness
