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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Matthew Weaver

King Charles’s cancer treatment ‘will continue into next year’

King Charles
A Buckingham Palace source told Sky News that the king’s ‘treatment has been moving in a positive direction’. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Reuters

King Charles’s cancer treatment will reportedly continue in 2025, almost a year after it was announced he had been diagnosed with the disease.

A Buckingham Palace source told Sky News the king’s “treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year”.

The source said there was a sense of optimism about the treatment, citing the king’s continuing busy schedule of public engagements, including over Christmas.

On Friday the king joked that he was “still alive” during a visit with the Queen to Walthamstow, north-east London. Asked “How are you?” by Sikh faith representative Harvinder Rattan, the king smiled as he replied: “I’m still alive.”

Further details of his condition have not been disclosed. When announcing the diagnosis in February, the palace asked for privacy and only confirmed it was a “form of cancer”.

The king was diagnosed after a “separate issue of concern was noted” and investigated while he was being treated for a benign prostate condition.

He cancelled all face-to-face public duties but returned in April and has since travelled to France for D-day commemorations, hosted an incoming state visit for the emperor of Japan, and undertaken a tour to Australia and Samoa with Queen Camilla, while undergoing outpatient cancer treatment.

Experts said it was common for cancer patients to undergo prolonged treatment.

Charles became king on 8 September 2022 after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

On Friday the the king and queen will attend a reception at Waltham Forest town hall to celebrate community cohesion in the London borough. They will meet volunteers, young people, emergency services workers, and faith representatives operating in Waltham Forest.

Last month, Prince William described the past year as “probably the hardest year in my life” as he dealt with his father and his wife, Catherine, having cancer.

The Princess of Wales, disclosed her own diagnosis in March. She appeared in a video with her family in September to confirm her return to public duties after completing a course of chemotherapy.

In a video interview to mark the end of a tour of South Africa, William said: “I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”

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