Charles III's cancer diagnosis could change the way the monarchy works

Queen Elizabeth II liked to say that she had to be seen to be believed. Now it's up to her son, King Charles III, to test that principle, following a cancer diagnosis that will push him out of the public eye for the foreseeable future.

For a family that has cultivated its public image through thousands of appearances a year — ribbon cuttings, ship launches, gala awards, investiture ceremonies, and so on — Charles' sidelining may ultimately force the royals to rethink how they project themselves into a social media age.

The king's illness is the latest blow to the British royal family, which has seen its ranks depleted by death (Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip), scandal (Prince Andrew), self-exile (Prince Harry and his wife Meghan), and other health problems (Catherine, wife of Prince William).

Charles, who is 75, took part in 425 royal engagements in 2023, his first full year on the throne, according to a count by The Daily Telegraph. That made him the second hardworking royal, after his younger sister, Princess Anne, to do so. Both were busier than the year before, when Elizabeth, although in the twilight of her life, still made sporadic public appearances.

While Anne, 73, shows little sign of slowing down and William plans to return to public duties while his wife recovers at home from abdominal surgery, even a temporary absence of the king from the public stage would put heavy pressure on the skeleton crew of the family. working monarchs.

“There aren't that many,” says Peter Hunt, a former royal correspondent for the BBC. 'There are only two who are younger than 50 years old. They must decide whether to continue to live up to the Queen's mantra. What is the minimum commitment they have to make to do that?”

The answer to that riddle, royal watchers argue, could lie in technology and social media. During the coronavirus pandemic, when Elizabeth was confined to Windsor Castle, she conducted meetings via Zoom calls, becoming so comfortable with them that she made jokes with the pixelated faces on her computer screen.

Buckingham Palace's use of social media can also increase personal exposure of family members. The royal family's Instagram account claims more than 13 million followers and the account on

For young people, who spend hours a day online and follow their favorite celebrities on social media, the royal family inaugurating a new primary school or community clinic may not be as important as it is for their parents or grandparents.

The greatest burden of the king's illness will likely fall on his 41-year-old heir, William. He has worked to play a role in issues ranging from climate change to homelessness. It's unclear how much time he'll be able to devote to those goals while also filling in for his father.

Ed Owens, a royal historian who recently published “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?” published, states that the royal family should in any case renounce these charitable activities, because they disrupt the proper role of the government in society.

“The culture of royal philanthropy,” Mr. Owens wrote, “has too often taken advantage of the holes exposed in a broken welfare state.”

William has also jealously guarded his family's privacy: Kensington Palace, where he has his office, provided few details about Catherine's condition. There were no photos of the couple's three young children – George, Charlotte and Louis – visiting their mother in hospital.

That approach contrasted with his father, who approved the disclosure of an unusual amount of detail about his prostate treatment and more recent cancer diagnosis. Scrutiny of William will inevitably increase, experts say, as he takes a more central place in the Windsor family hierarchy.

Another question arises over the role of Prince Harry, the king's youngest son, who had a bitter falling out with his father and brother after he and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties and moved to California in 2020.

Harry arrived in London on Tuesday to visit his father, prompting royal watchers to muse that the crisis could lead to reconciliation between him and his family. But Harry hadn't brought his own family with him and it wasn't even clear where he would be staying; the king turned it off from his home town, Frogmore Cottage, last year.

Although Charles will cede the public stage for the time being, the palace has taken pains to emphasize that he remains a fully established constitutional sovereign. He will continue to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weekly and meet other visitors. He will continue to sift through official documents, which are delivered to him daily in a traditional red box.

There are currently no plans to appoint state advisors, who could fulfill some of the king's duties if he were to become incapacitated by illness. Among those lined up for that role are Queen Camilla and William.

There are some rituals that only a sitting monarch can perform. Charles must comply with a request from the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament before the general election. He must also ask the leader of the party with the majority to form a government.

None of this is hypothetical in a year when an election is expected to take place, and a year when the opposition Labor party currently has a lead of around 20 points over the Conservatives in opinion polls.

Elizabeth regarded these duties as so solemn that two days before her death at the age of 96, she steeled herself for a meeting with Boris Johnson, the outgoing prime minister, and Liz Truss, his successor, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Mr Sunak, who has spoken to Charles about his cancer, sought to allay concerns about the King's prognosis. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday, he said: “Luckily this was caught early.”

A spokesman for 10 Downing Street later clarified that Mr Sunak was not passing on any new information, but referred to the palace statement, which noted the “quick intervention” of Charles' medical team.

Whatever his prognosis, the king's cancer pushes the royal family into uncharted territory. Historians noted that Charles' grandfather, King George VI, had done so cancer surgery in 1951, the palace told the public almost nothing about his condition. He died five months later, bringing his daughter Elizabeth to the throne 72 years ago Tuesday.

When she died in September 2022, her death certificate listed the cause as “old age.” Gyles Brandreth, a friend of the royal family, later said in a biography of the queen that she was suffering from a form of bone marrow cancer.

By choosing to be more open about his health issues, Charles has deviated from the longstanding family practice. He did this, the palace said, “in the hope that it can increase public understanding for all those around the world affected by cancer.”

Whether the king can refute the queen's mantra that you have to be seen to be believed is another question.