Sunita Somvanshi
Estimated reading time: 1 minutes
Queen Camilla has spoken for the first time about how hard it was to keep King Charles’s cancer diagnosis secret before the public announcement in February 2024.
In a short film released on 19 August 2026 to mark the 30th anniversary of Maggie’s cancer charity, Camilla said she was “longing to let it out” during an official visit to a Maggie’s centre in London on 31 January 2024. At that point, Charles had already been diagnosed with cancer, but Buckingham Palace had not yet made the news public. The Palace announced the diagnosis five days later, on 5 February 2024.
“I remember coming to see a Maggie’s just after the king being diagnosed. Nobody could say anything at the time. That was quite difficult,” Camilla told Maggie’s chief executive Dame Laura Lee in the film, which was recorded at Clarence House.
“I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn’t the time to say… I was just longing to let it out but obviously I couldn’t.”
The visit took place as Camilla launched a new Maggie’s centre at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Maggie’s provides free emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families through 27 drop-in centres located near NHS hospitals across the UK. No appointment is needed.
Camilla also spoke about Charles’s recovery. He returned to public-facing engagements in April 2024, less than three months after treatment began. “Look at my husband. Nothing stopped him. He just said, ‘This is my way. I’m going to cope with it.’”
She called on every hospital to have a Maggie’s centre and highlighted the importance of support for relatives, particularly men who may be more reluctant to seek help.
