The British monarch’s first order of business after he was taken ill in February is to visit a treatment center specifically for cancer patients.
This is to raise awareness of the importance of getting an early diagnosis. To get this, one must go to the doctor.
The king’s message – especially to men of his own generation – is that doctors can only remotely diagnose their patients to a small extent: People have to show up themselves.
It is better to ask for too much research than too little.
For King Charles, the fight against cancer has become more than a private matter. The cancer case is added to Her Majesty’s overall action plan. Known as the four Cs:
Climate, community, culture & Commonwealth.
In Norwegian: Climate, community, culture & Commonwealth (a sort of leftover party after the British Empire).
The fifth C in the monarch’s portfolio stands for cancer (cancer).
The king’s focus on modern cancer treatment is an expression of sincere gratitude on his own behalf. His case was detected at an early stage.
The court still does not want to say what kind of cancer it is, and the ongoing treatment still indicates that it is probably something serious. But Charles is obviously in good spirits.
Sources at Buckingham Palace claim to the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph that for the king it is an independent point to show that it is possible to live a full life even while being treated for the disease. “Not just afterwards.”
“Cancer can be a scary word, but it doesn’t have to be a scary experience”, is the message from the Castle.
It is unclear how many royal missions Charles intends to carry out in the near future. However, the signals from the court are so ambitious that one expert after another has appeared in the media and warned him against starting too soon.
To that ear, it may seem that the monarch is not listening very well.
In the royal almanac it is stated that the king will be present at several events in the spring and summer; everything from the annual garden parties at Buckingham Palace on 8 and 21 May to the traditional Royal Ascot horse race, which takes place in June.
The royals are often present here several times throughout the week. Queen Elizabeth opened her first Ascot race in 1945, as a princess, and returned annually.
Apart from 2020, when most of it was closed by pandemic, she had a 76-year uninterrupted attendance at Ascot, the town in Berkshire, four miles west of London, where in 1711 Queen Anne founded the historic racecourse.
The Queen also bred her own racehorses, and more than 70 of them won Ascot. As recently as 2021, she participated with 33 horses, and collected a total of 536,685 pounds – equivalent to NOK 7.4 million – in prize money.
In 2022 – just over ten weeks before she passed away – the event was held for the first time in 77 years without Queen Elizabeth in attendance.
Queen of Great Britain for 70 years and 214 days
But before King Charles heads to the southern English county of Berkshire to play horse, he has pledged his royal presence at the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Normandy landings, on June 6.
On both sides of the English Channel, plans have been made to mark the Allied invasion in 1944 – Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord – which reopened the so-called Western Front and paved the way for the defeat of Nazi Germany in Western Europe.
Just under a week and a half later, the British monarch’s official birthday is celebrated. “Trooping the Colour” is the ceremonial marking of the head of state, and takes place every year on 15 June, regardless of when the majesty was actually born.
Charles III was born on 14 November 1948, and has therefore already had time to celebrate his 75th birthday.
Two days later, on June 17, the king is again at the center of events, thanks to the long lines of the monarchy.
“Garter Day” pays tribute to the Order of the Garter – an English order of knighthood founded by Edward III in 1348. Today Europe’s oldest national order which has been in use uninterruptedly since the Middle Ages.
Next to the British monarch, the order counts only 25 members (Knights Companions).
Nine are in his immediate family, eight are European royalty – including King Harald. The rest are English aristocracy, high-ranking officers, ex-prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair, Hong Kong’s last governor, Chris Patten, and musical king Andrew Lloyd Webber.
At the end of June, King Charles and Queen Camilla will host when the Japanese imperial couple pay an official state visit.
Labor Prime Minister in the period 1997–2007 and his predecessor, Tory Prime Minister John Major (1990–97) are the only living British heads of government to hold the Order of the Garter.
Their majesties then plan to arrive in the Scottish capital Edinburgh at the turn of June/Christmas, to take part in what is known as Holyrood Week – a week-long celebration of Scottish culture and community life.
After Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf had to resign on Monday, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s husband is under police investigation and former First Minister Alex Salmond is again accused of indecent behavior, there will at least not be a lack of topics of conversation in the King’s Scottish residence, Holyroodhouse.
In Scotland – which is the British monarch’s closest holiday country – Charles has expressed his desire to attend the Mey Highland Games, a Scottish men’s event, with exercises such as pole vault, tug of war, stone carrying (of a 200 kg stone), shot put (with a very heavy ball), as well as consumption of haggis and unfiltered malt whiskey to tones from a local bagpipe band.
A test of manhood, as I said.
the royal couple in Scotland until the end of October. Then the annual summit between the heads of government in the Commonwealth takes place in Samoa in the South Pacific.
Once they are on their way, plans are also made to visit Australia, which has not had the monarch on an official visit since 2011.
It is a special request from the organizers of the Melbourne Cup, an equestrian event that takes place on November 5, that the royals make the trip there.
Their Majesties are also invited to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the House of Lords in the Australian state of New South Wales.
With a program like this, it will be interesting to see what King Charles plans for the day he is discharged.
