King Charles III – Patient
King Charles thanks healthcare staff after year of cancer treatment.
By Luke Cooper with wires
King Charles III has delivered his annual Christmas Day message by thanking medical staff who have cared for him and his daughter-in-law Princess Kate, after they both underwent treatment for cancer this year.
The monarch’s broadcast is a tradition that dates back to a radio speech by George V in 1932. This year’s message was King Charles’ third since being crowned and touched on global conflicts and riots that broke out in the United Kingdom in August.
The holiday message is watched by millions of people in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth, with many households timing Christmas lunch around it.
This year has been traumatic for the royals after Buckingham Palace said in February that the 76-year-old monarch had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate.
One month later, Princess Kate, the wife of his son and heir Prince William, said she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer that concluded in September.
William has also said the year has been brutal for the family.
“All of us go through some form of suffering at some stage in our life, be it mental or physical,” King Charles said in his message.
“The degree to which we help one another — and draw support from each other, be we people of faith or of none — is a measure of our civilisation as nations.”
“This is what continually impresses me, as my family and I meet with, and listen to, those who dedicate their lives to helping others.”
The king filmed the pre-recorded message at the ornate Fitzrovia Chapel of a former hospital in central London — the first time the monarch has delivered the Christmas Day address away from the royal estate in 19 years.
His words were accompanied by footage of a visit he made to a cancer treatment centre on returning to public duties in April and of one of Kate’s first engagements when she resumed working.
“From a personal point of view, I offer special heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed,” he said.
“I am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement.”
Last week, a palace source said the king’s treatment was progressing well and would continue into next year.
Imagine the profound impact if King Charles could have directly thank and support his carers…
The power and ability for patients to motivate and remind staff just how much they matter, has been systemically underestimated.
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