Britain’s King Charles is “frustrated” by the pace of his recuperation from cancer, his nephew Peter Phillips said on Sunday, becoming the first member of the royal family to speak in detail about how the monarch was faring.
The insight into the king’s mindset comes after Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, said on Friday she was undergoing preventive chemotherapy after cancer was found to be present, a fresh health blow to the royal family.
Phillips, the eldest of the late Queen Elizabeth’s eight grandchildren and son of Princess Anne, told Sky News Australia in an interview that the king was frustrated as his recovery was taking longer than he’d like.
“He's frustrated that he can't get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do,” he said, adding that while he was pragmatic and understood the need for recovery time, he was eager to get back to normality.
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“He is always pushing his staff and everybody – his doctors and nurses – to be able to say ‘actually can I do this, can I do that?’ ”
Charles (75) is hoping to attend a scaled down Easter service and family gathering next Sunday although his attendance will not be confirmed in advance.
Kensington Palace has said neither Kate nor her husband, heir to the throne Prince William, will be present for the Easter service.
Charles underwent a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate in January. Buckingham Palace then revealed in February that he was to have treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, meaning he has had to postpone his public royal duties.
Britain's Queen Camilla said her husband Charles was doing “very well”, as she greeted crowds on a visit to Northern Ireland on Thursday.
Elsewhere, a former royal adviser has said that the speculation and pressure around Kate’s health and whereabouts before her video statement was “the worst I’ve ever seen”.
Kate (42) revealed she was undergoing preventive chemotherapy in an emotional video message on Friday.
The announcement came after weeks of intense speculation and conspiracy theories on social media.
Paddy Harverson, who was previously the official spokesman of Kate and William, was asked on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme where the responsibility for the pressure lay: social media or mainstream media.
“Well, it feeds off itself,” he said.
“It’s a sort of permanent doom loop. And it’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”
However, he said the royal family still would have done the announcement in the same way, even without the pressure.
There has been a global outpouring of support for Kate, including from Charles, Harry and Meghan Markle, political figures and members of the public. – Reuters/PA
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