King Charles Takes No Chances: Two Doctors Join Royal Entourage on High-Stakes Australia and Samoa Visit With Ailing Monarch
King Charles III is still battling cancer, but His Majesty is 'determined' to visit his Australian subjects, and adds two doctors to his entourage for health purposes.
Their Majesties King Charles III, 75, and Queen Camilla, 77, will tour Australia and Samoa from October 18 to 26, which has many royal watchers concerned for the monarch's health.
A report in The Times states the sovereign will bring along two doctors during the trip to oversee his health due to his decision to suspend his cancer treatment for the eight-day jaunt.
A source in the report shared how the King will make "a number of concessions to prevent him from being overworked," and ensure HM "will be monitored closely during the visit."
Furthermore, the decision to pause his chemotherapy treatments "followed doctors' advice."
Charles III, only two years into his reign, was diagnosed with an unknown form of cancer after a procedure to correct an enlarged prostate in January. His chemotherapy began in early February, but the public has no idea the stage of the disease, where it is located, and how long his treatment will need to take place.
His Majesty's daughter-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales, also battled an undisclosed type of the disease from February until early September when she announced she was cancer-free.
The monarch's advanced age when considering he can never retire from his position is also of concern to many.
This led royal historian Hugo Vickers to tell the outlet, "I'm sure that the medical team has been consulted and will look after the King and make sure that he doesn’t overwork, as we know he has a propensity to do. I'm sure he wouldn’t be undertaking the trip unless he was fit enough to do it."
It was also disclosed the King and his Queen will undertake "no evening engagements" during the visits, presumably to reduce HM's workload as much as possible.
This trip will mark the King's first royal tour to one of his Commonwealth realms since his accession to the throne in September 2022.
In other news, the sovereign will not travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the annual COP climate conference later this year. This news is said to be particularly relieving for the Queen who has been watching the cancer-battling monarch's health "like a hawk."
This led a friend of Their Majesties to share, "Camilla will be pleased he is not going straight off to Azerbaijan. She didn’t particularly want him to go to Australia, and she will be encouraging him to take it easy once he gets back — never an easy task."
Inevitably, for many royal enthusiasts, it will be hard not to compare Charles III's first Australian tour with that of his predecessor Queen Elizabeth II's in 1954.
"The late Queen Elizabeth visited every state of Australia, every territory, including seven capital cities and 70 towns, in 58 days," royal correspondent Cameron Walker shared. "In contrast, the King is going to be spending, we understand, less than a week in Australia, and he's only going to be visiting Sydney and Canberra."
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