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Original poster

To think King Charles would do more for awareness by saying which cancer he has

243 replies

DontLeanOnTheKeyboard · 06/02/2024 21:05

Why all the secrecy? Everyone knows where the prostate is so is fully aware of the initial investigations - if he is happy to share that very personal info, why not say what cancer? It would surely be more useful for him to say ‘it’s this, I had symptoms but ignored them..’

Same as what the Queen died of and I think Kate’s missed a trick in not making herself more human by sharing a little more around the abdo surgery. Childbirth does all kinds of shit to women’s bodies, it seems a good subject to say ‘happens to us all’

Is there some royal protocol that means they can’t say?

OP posts:
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GreenOlivesinGin · 07/02/2024 07:07

Beyond the right to medical privacy, if they share any information then uncontrollable speculation will start about how aggressive the cancer is, chances of survival, potential prognosis, how long he has to live, etc. This would be very unhelpful and destabilising and ultimately serves no real purpose. It is also very soon since the diagnosis, I am sure eventually more information will be shared. I believe they have taken the right approach.

LynetteScavo · 07/02/2024 07:08

Some people want to share their cancer journey. Some people don't. You're not a better person if you choose to publicly share every step of that journey. Some people don't even tell their closest relatives about their their diagnosis.

It seems some people would like the public to have complete access to the Royal family's medical notes.

Redheadredemption · 07/02/2024 07:11

Nobody is asking for complete medical notes - don’t be ridiculous.

Sspholidayquery · 07/02/2024 07:13

I also don't understand why people keep the type of cancer they have a secret. I've had HER2+ breast cancer and NH Lymphoma. People who have never had cancer cannot understand what it is like to have cancer. I hear of people getting this cunt of a disease and automatically think 'I wonder what type, will they survive?' I worry that they have the same types as me and then they die and I worry more that I'm going to die horribly.

Janetime · 07/02/2024 07:14

Redheadredemption · 07/02/2024 07:11

Nobody is asking for complete medical notes - don’t be ridiculous.

Are you kidding, the media is already speculating, inc social media and on this site,

some people are just gossips and nosey, they can’t respect someone’s privacy. Wanting to know what type of cancer is not to raise awareness, no one believes that for one second, it’s to speculate on his symptoms and how long he will live for. Same as Kate, they just want a good gossip about her, and what she might be going through physically.

personally I’d have more respect if people just owned that

MolkosTeenageAngst · 07/02/2024 07:32

It’s probably sensible from the POV of economic stability/ national security etc to keep the exact specifics of the kings health private. If he shared the type of cancer people would immediately be googling typical prognosis and making assumptions about whether he’ll survive it, obviously that’s much harder to do if you don’t know the type or stage of cancer as the prognosis can be so different between cancers. He’s also in the very early days of treatment and finding out he has cancer, raising awareness is something he may choose to do in the future but probably isn’t top of his to-do list right now. It’s literally been a few days, maybe more will be shared in the future.

Friendlyfishfinger · 07/02/2024 07:32

Why the hell should they share their private medical history to appease the nosey masses? Because that’s all this is.

SendOver · 07/02/2024 07:34

I don't know why they even had to throw it out there at all.
Take Kate's surgery, it was apparently a scheduled surgery so diaries would obviously have been cleared to accommodate this. No one would even have known she was going for an operation but for themselves making it public. Why do that?
Same with Charlie and his prognosis. They could have just kept quiet and cleared his diary for a while, instead they chose to put it out there.
No one needs to know about their medical stuff.

Validus · 07/02/2024 07:36

Stop being so bloody nosey. They can share what they wish, at the level of detail they wish, when they wish.

spidermonkeys · 07/02/2024 07:40

Everyone in the world is aware of cancer. It's not a mysterious illness.

Tilleuil · 07/02/2024 07:48

SendOver · 07/02/2024 07:34

I don't know why they even had to throw it out there at all.
Take Kate's surgery, it was apparently a scheduled surgery so diaries would obviously have been cleared to accommodate this. No one would even have known she was going for an operation but for themselves making it public. Why do that?
Same with Charlie and his prognosis. They could have just kept quiet and cleared his diary for a while, instead they chose to put it out there.
No one needs to know about their medical stuff.

A scheduled surgery could be one that was decided on a few days prior.
What it means is it wasn’t routine and not an emergency.
Diaries in the RF are filled months ahead.

wildernesssw · 07/02/2024 07:51

As both Charles and Catherine have had to cancel appointments for medical reasons, there had to be some sort of announcement.

Charles 'wanting to raise awareness' was about having an enlarged prostate, a treatable condition that is fairly common in older men. It wasn't in relation to cancer, which was discovered as a result of his prostate treatment.

Every individual has the right to keep their medical information private, and choose who they tell. In this case Charles was comfortable having his prostate condition known, but does not want details of his cancer diagnosis known.

jasflowers · 07/02/2024 08:00

The KC diagnosis has highlighted the shockingly poor Cancer services we have in this country, among the worst in europe.

My former team leader had Hodgkinson's, he waited 3 months before any treatment started, went from st 1 to st 3.

Even the on-going tests couldn't be done on time due to staff shortages.

His treatment then cost far more once started, we are all paying more for failure.

Its up to KC to say what his cancer is, we should respect that choice.

ShapelyCoarseStanding · 07/02/2024 08:00

Another confusion between legitimate Public Interest and what the nosy 'what the public find interesting'.
HM publicised the prostate prob and it seems he has recovered well. That should encourage more men to get attention even if it means joining a queue. The sooner you are in the system the better.
PoW, maybe it is something that might not go as well as prostate operations usually do. They might alarm some of us out here. Might it have a connection with having intercourse? No one would want that broadcast to the school gate crowd so keep it out of the Tabloids please.
Might also be similar sexual connection for HM's cancer. Speculation about sex in older people? I think not.

saraclara · 07/02/2024 08:13

I love how some mumsnetters are all about 'boundaries' until someone's boundary is not to tell them something that they're unreasonably desperate to know.

butterpuffed · 07/02/2024 08:20

King Charles is one of very few people , who , when he has procedures /illnesses, the whole world knows about it , because he has to withdraw from his duties and meetings etc. and there would be more speculation than there already is .

The fact that he has to let everyone know must be daunting for him , whoever he is . He can't be blamed for not going into details at this time .

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2024 08:22

Manyandyoucanwalkover · 07/02/2024 00:43

The royals live an extremely privileged life. With privilege comes responsibility. It would be the right thing to do to share his diagnosis in order to raise awareness. He will get the very best treatment available and he won’t have to wait a single day.

Who appointed you as the authority on what the right thing to do is?

User3353235 · 07/02/2024 08:24

AutumnCrow · 07/02/2024 06:55

Maybe Omid Scobie will be able to reveal the info in the not too distant future.

I have a hunch this is part of the reason the Palace snubbed Harry, making sure the press knew exactly when he arrived and how quickly Charles left after that. It may not have been Harry per se but any information that gets to him, gets to Meghan which inevitably gets leaked to the odious Omid Scobie. He's no doubt salivating at the idea of knowing the exact diagnosis, treatment plan, prognosis along with all the information about Kate as well. Would be more than enough to fill a new book.

SendOver · 07/02/2024 08:25

Tilleuil · 07/02/2024 07:48

A scheduled surgery could be one that was decided on a few days prior.
What it means is it wasn’t routine and not an emergency.
Diaries in the RF are filled months ahead.

Show quote history

Maybe so, but it still doesn't mean that they have to put it out there.
No one had to know that either had been in hospital or seeing a consultant.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2024 08:28

User3353235 · 07/02/2024 08:24

I have a hunch this is part of the reason the Palace snubbed Harry, making sure the press knew exactly when he arrived and how quickly Charles left after that. It may not have been Harry per se but any information that gets to him, gets to Meghan which inevitably gets leaked to the odious Omid Scobie. He's no doubt salivating at the idea of knowing the exact diagnosis, treatment plan, prognosis along with all the information about Kate as well. Would be more than enough to fill a new book.

Show quote history

I'm so glad that there's at least one MN poster as cynical as me, because that was my thought as well.

CoffeeWithCheese · 07/02/2024 08:29

I'm no royalist - but considering the general human plumbing in the area being investigated... I'm just fucking glad he's spared us that odious toad Witchell (who I thought we'd got rid of) discussing in reverential tones the Royal colon/bladder/bollocks/knob/whatever else.

After Harry and his poor little frostbitten Little Harry - I'm all for maintaining some degree of "we really do not need this much information"

User3353235 · 07/02/2024 08:30

ShapelyCoarseStanding · 07/02/2024 08:00

Another confusion between legitimate Public Interest and what the nosy 'what the public find interesting'.
HM publicised the prostate prob and it seems he has recovered well. That should encourage more men to get attention even if it means joining a queue. The sooner you are in the system the better.
PoW, maybe it is something that might not go as well as prostate operations usually do. They might alarm some of us out here. Might it have a connection with having intercourse? No one would want that broadcast to the school gate crowd so keep it out of the Tabloids please.
Might also be similar sexual connection for HM's cancer. Speculation about sex in older people? I think not.

Does anyone still remember Jade Goody? She had an incredible, tremendous impact on getting young women to take up smear tests. That effect has totally plateaued since then (MN is notoriously anti-smears), but back in the days it was quite an incredible thing to witness. I booked one myself as a result.

Obviously this is not saying any member of the RF should publicise themselves the way she did, but it takes one person in the public standing by their diagnosis that could have a huge impact on the health of many others. Jade Goody had cervical cancer and I don't think a single person in their right mind would consider "judging" someone for having a cancer linked to HPV which is linked to having intercourse.

fliptopbin · 07/02/2024 08:35

It's been one day, the tumour was an incidental finding, he himself may well not know whether it is the primary cancer or a secondary site, until he has further tests.
Also, he probably doesn't want people asking about for example, the state of his bowels, at every bloody public engagement.

Bululu · 07/02/2024 08:36

The Royals do not have to say or share anything about their health. I was even very surprised the King came out to say he has cancer. That has created a lot of attention and stress for someone who is already vulnerable with cancer.

RausageSoul · 07/02/2024 08:37

saraclara · 07/02/2024 08:13

I love how some mumsnetters are all about 'boundaries' until someone's boundary is not to tell them something that they're unreasonably desperate to know.

Surely some MN must have an extremely important DH and know everything by now? Or is that just War and Covid?

I am no royalist, but ffs if medical privacy is one thing he can have then let him have it. I'm sure the Sun will have a pull out special soon