'Open and honest' | Queen Camilla opens up on ‘difficulty’ keeping King’s cancer diagnosis secret

Queen has spoken for the first time about the emotional strain of keeping the King's cancer diagnosis a secret from the public before it was announced to the world. In a new film made in collaboration between Buckingham Palace and the charity Maggie's to mark its 30th anniversary, Queen Camilla reveals she was longing to let it out during a visit to one of their cancer support centres in January 2024, just days before the King's diagnosis was officially disclosed to the public. I remember coming to see our Maggie's just after the King's being diagnosed. Nobody could say anything at the time. That was quite difficult. I almost said something, but I felt that it wasn't the time to say. I looked at everybody who was suffering and on the relations and I think it made me realise even more how important these places were. While GB News' Royal Correspondent Cameron Walker joins us now. And Cameron, this is a really candid conversation with the Queen. Yeah, it certainly is. She's president of Maggie's, the cancer charity, who are marking their 30th anniversary this year. And actually, they've announced to coincide with this film that the number of men seeking support from them has actually risen by 12% since the King has been so open about his cancer diagnosis. And it's a very open and honest discussion filmed in Clarence House a number of weeks ago with the Chief Executive of Maggie's Cancer Charity, where the Queen basically is talking about how it was knowing that the King had been diagnosed with the form of cancer, but clearly couldn't say anything about it, even though she was speaking to relatives going through very similar things to what she was doing inside Maggie's Cancer Centre with those who were suffering. So Maggie's, there's 24 of them around the UK in hospitals. And it's all about maybe the holistic approach going alongside the clinical treatments for cancer. So more to do with the emotional wellbeing, perhaps, of patients and their families. But what the Queen also talked about was how the King coped with it. And she said the King's way of coping was basically keeping calm and carrying on and keeping as busy as possible. That was his coping mechanism, despite, of course, she said previously, that the doctors have ordered him or urged him to slow down. The Queen has urged him to slow down, and he's not doing as he's being told. And of course, this has done so many tremendous things, indeed, for the health of the public. Because before, this was quite unprecedented to see a monarch talk so openly about their health. 12% more people coming forward, men, I think that was that correct? Yeah, 12%. We've also seen a tranche of very high-profile figures across the British public come forward with their cancer diagnosis as well, let alone the Princess of Wales. Jeremy Clarkson just comes to mind recently coming forward about his cancer diagnosis. So do you think the King has inspired the nation in many ways to be more transparent about their health? Well, I think quite possibly. I mean, he certainly pioneered it. I think there was always a risk or worry in the past that if you gave too much information, a lot of people would pry and want more information. But what we saw with the Princess of Wales was, of course, there was a huge vacuum ahead of her cancer announcement. And the King was quite open and honest. And as you say, it has perhaps encouraged others to do the same. But of course, everyone has to do it on their own terms. I'll just, there hasn't been any kind of update on the King's cancer. But of course, it continues in a very positive direction. And if you remember back in December, the King said it was a blessing that he could reduce the frequency of his own treatments, although he is still receiving treatment. We got a sense of the attitude of the King whilst he was going through this back in 2024, didn't we, Cameron? Very stoic, very stiff upper lip. I'm going to cope, is what the Queen says. Yes. And when he was diagnosed in January 2024, when the announcement, I should say, happened in 2024, it was three months, I think, before he started back on public duty. So he took kind of 12 weeks off during that initial treatment process. But I think that just shows how he was really determined to continue with his public duties. He'd been waiting his whole life to be King. He's 77 years old, the longest serving heir apparent. And, you know, it was only five, six, seven months later, but he did a massive tour of Australia and Samoa. He's since been to the United States, representing Great Britain, getting whisky tariffs removed, which President Trump said nobody else would be able to do. So, you know, he's keeping on with duties despite this diagnosis going on in the background. And that's his way of coping. Indeed. Cameron Walker, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on this really important story. And it's good to see, I think it's very good to see the transparency in the royal family. I think it helps the British public immensely. Yeah. Thank you very much, Cameron. You've worked hard for your money. So why does it feel like your pounds are constantly losing value? Your savings should grow and be safe. It's common sense, isn't it? But here's the truth. Policy impacts inflation, which silently erodes your purchasing power. Don't let inflation decide what your money is worth. And when your money is with your bank, the bank uses it for their purposes. They lend it. They profit from it. Your money works hard for your bank when it should be working hard for you. This is why people are seeking alternatives to traditional bank savings accounts. 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Yes, Swan Song, which will be published in September, will cover Diana's unhappy marriage to the then Prince of Wales and the aftermath of her shocking death in 1997. Well, joining us now is royal historian Martin Whittock. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Martin. This is going to send shockwaves through the royal family. It's kind of giving me spare 2.0 vibes at the moment because, of course, this is not just, however, a reveal on a prince of the realm. This is a reveal of the king now at this point in time. Martin, what kind of damage might this do? Well, that's a very good point. And as you said, the royals are very much in focus this morning. We've heard about the incredible discipline of the king and queen carrying on, carrying on despite the huge pressures of last year's, two years ago now, cancer diagnosis. That shows something of their commitment to service, but also the frankness and the openness, the honesty now about where they are and where they've been on their journey to help many people. But of course, coming on top of that now is this announcement by Earl Spencer that in advance of the 30th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, which will be in August next year, that he is going to reveal a lot more, he's saying, about the circumstances leading to her death and particularly the week of her death that obviously culminated in that tragic car accident. And I cannot help but feel that whilst I understand that for him it is clearly still cathartic to talk about this tragedy, to speak about it, to reveal what he knows and hasn't said before, part of me does feel that there does come a point where one has to let these things lie and be at peace. Because in many ways, as you've just rightly intimated, this is going to open up a whole range of very raw wounds, which have obviously gone through a period of healing over the decades. And it's going to open it up again. We'll be back again to the tragic situation, the breakup of that marriage. We'll be back again to the pressure on her, the paparazzi and so on, and the tragic accident. And part of me does feel that whilst I can understand there are things he still wants to say, that I do genuinely think it's now time to let her rest in peace. That's my personal feeling. And I think it will of course concern the Royal Household that we're about to go through this again and again, tragic as indeed it is. Do you think we're going to learn anything new from this book, Martin? It's difficult. It's difficult to imagine so. I mean, obviously, we will get more personal insights. It may well be that some more details come out about that accident. But we have in fact been over this ground again and again and again. Huge spotlight of publicity, of course, at the time of her death, and rightly so. So there will no doubt be personal insights and personal communications between the two of them will come out and so on. But I genuinely find it difficult to think that anything will come out that will majorly change the verdict of history on this situation or the verdict of the investigators as to what lay behind the crash itself. So as I say, my concern is that this will tear open wounds again, which have finally healed, I think. People have accepted Queen Camilla. They've recognised that these things were in the past. There were tragedies, wrong things were done, bad things were done. But people have moved on from there without in any way denigrating the history or forgetting the history. But I think constantly reminding us of this does have that risk of just opening wounds again. And I think that is a pity. Yeah, I certainly agree with you there, Martin. I think we've got to that stage. But listen, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Royal historian Martin Whittock, thank you very, very much.