[ad_1]
In British history, secrecy about the monarch’s health has always reigned supreme. The revelation by Buckingham Palace that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer broke that long tradition.
Hot on the heels of the shock and well-wishes that followed Monday’s official statement came the surprise that the palace had actually announced anything. In fact, the unprecedented letter contained few details: King Charles, 75, had begun treatment for a cancer he did not mention after being diagnosed during a recent corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate.
The king will leave his public duties but will devote himself to state affairs during his treatment, which he will receive as an outpatient, the palace said.
“The King has cancer,” declared the Times of London on Tuesday in a brief headline. He was unlike any other in British history.
Never complain, never explain, as Charles’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, said. Charles has hidden details of the illness and treatment from him, and thus continues to focus on him. But by radiating a ray of light from within the palace walls and from his own life, the king has broken with his mother and his royal tradition.
The world still does not know the cause of Isabel’s death in 2022 at the age of 96. In the final years of her life, the public was only told that the queen suffered from “mobility problems.” Her death certificate listed the cause simply as “old age.”
The British public was not told that Charles’s grandfather, King George VI, had lung cancer before his death in February 1952 at the age of 56, and some historians have claimed that the king himself was not told. who had a terminal illness.
As Charles rules in a media-saturated age, “I think it’s incumbent upon him to reveal more than he has revealed,” said Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.”
“He was admirably candid in what he said about treatment for an enlarged prostate, and his drive was to be open and also encourage men to get the necessary tests,” he added. “But then he returned to the traditional royal form, which is mystery, secrecy, opacity.”
On Tuesday, former royal press secretary Simon Lewis told BBC Radio 4 that Charles’ candor about his cancer diagnosis has been his style as a monarch.
“I think 20 years ago we would have gotten a very abrupt, short statement, and that’s it,” he said. The palace statement goes as far as possible, “given that the King has been diagnosed with cancer and, as many people know, processing that is quite a difficult process.”
One of the reasons for revealing her illness, according to the palace statement, was “in the hope that it can help public understanding of all those around the world affected by cancer.” Cancer patient advocates reported glimmers of success on that front, with Cancer Research UK reporting a 42% increase in visits to its cancer information page, according to Dr Julie Sharp, director of health and information. for group patients.
The jump “reflects that high-profile cancer cases often act as a stimulus to encourage people to know more or think about their own health,” he said.
But there was another pragmatic reason: to maintain control of information in the age of ultra-fast social media and misinformation. The palace statement said Charles “has decided to share his diagnosis to avoid speculation.”
In the annals of power, leaders and their advisors strive to maintain (or at least not undermine) the perception of being strong and in control. Because allowing any perception of vulnerability or weakness could spark a fight for the gavel or crown, or encourage a coup d’état.
The former Soviet Union was famous for not mentioning when its leaders were sick or dead: think of Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, secretly ill and soon dead, one after another, in the 1980s. Each event sparked succession struggles. .
In the United States, there is little or no debate about the public’s right to know the health status of its leaders. It is a key feature of the 2024 presidential fight between President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 77, with other contenders, such as Republican challenger Nikki Haley, arguing that both are too old to preside.
And on Feb. 1, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, sixth in the presidential line of succession, apologized for keeping his cancer diagnosis and surgery a secret. In a rare news conference, he acknowledged missing a key opportunity to use the experience as a teaching moment for those he leads across the Defense Department and, more importantly, for African Americans.
Whether the monarch owes the world more information about his health than other Britons is a tense issue.
The royals are private citizens, but also, in a sense, part of the public trust, since they are subsidized by British taxpayers and play an important, if largely powerless, constitutional role. Unelected, they inherit their wealth under a 1,000-year-old monarchy that Republican activists have long sought to dislodge.
And although some polls show the public is friendly to Charles, opposition and apathy toward the monarchy is growing. In a recent study by the National Center for Social Research, only 29% of respondents thought the monarchy was “very important,” the lowest level in the center’s 40 years of research on the topic. The opposition was greatest among young people.
Staying relevant is part of what makes Charles’s legacy and succession so urgent. Maintaining at least the appearance of vitality may be key for leaders to seek and maintain power. The palace was careful to note that the king would step away from his public-facing duties during his treatment, but he would continue to handle other duties of state.
In the case of Charles, the succession has already been set for a long time: next in line is his son, William, the Prince of Wales. But the king’s illness makes William’s preparation more critical at a time when he is also caring for his wife, Kate, Princess of Wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery.
Charles’ news was met with great sympathy in a country where 3 million people live with cancer, according to Macmillan Cancer Support, a London-based charity. On average, it says, a person is diagnosed with cancer in the UK every 90 seconds. According to the National Health Service, around 1,000 new cases of cancer are detected every day.
The fact that the king has joined those ranks and, crucially for a British monarch, shared that vulnerability with the world, heralded for some a new era of transparency in an age of social media and misinformation.