The King is a tough man, says Queen Camilla’s son
Queen Camilla’s son has insisted King Charles is a “tough man”, amid his ongoing cancer treatment.
Tom Parker Bowles, a food writer and the eldest son of the Queen, suggested his stepfather was simply “getting on with it”.
Speaking to British Vogue about the monarch’s diagnosis of an undisclosed form of cancer in February, he said: “Cancer, it really is a bastard.
“The King’s having the best treatment. He’s a great man and a tough man, and you’ve just got to get on with it. Of course, anyone who has someone they love with cancer is going to worry.”
His comments come as the monarch, 75, prepares for his first foreign tour since being diagnosed. He will travel to Australia and Samoa next month, undertaking a “limited” programme as he continues his treatment.
As with the King’s current programme of domestic engagements, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said the trip’s itinerary would be orchestrated to “prioritise His Majesty’s continued recovery” and would be “subject to doctors’ advice, and any necessary modifications on health grounds”.
The King was diagnosed with cancer seven months ago following surgery for an enlarged prostate and has been undergoing weekly treatments.
He was cleared by his medical team to return to public duties in late April after responding well to treatment.
When it was announced that he was returning to a modified programme of work, a Palace spokesman said: “His Majesty’s treatment programme will continue, but doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that the King is now able to resume a number of public-facing duties.”
They added that while it was “too early to say” when his treatment would come to an end, his medical team was “very encouraged by the progress made so far”.
Queen Camilla said earlier this month that her husband was “doing very well” as she opened a new cancer centre in Bath.
Speaking to British Vogue about his experience with the disease with his late partner, Alice Procope, Mr Parker Bowles simply said: “Brutal.” She died in 2021, aged 42.
The 49 year-old also spoke to the magazine about his upcoming book ‘Cooking & The Crown: Royal Recipes From Queen Victoria to King Charles III’.
The book includes “a scattering” of Camilla’s recipes, including one for porridge and one for her chicken broth. It also includes a 100-year-old biscuit recipe that Mr Parker Bowles happened to discover at Windsor.
He admitted it was “fair game” to accuse him of nepotism because of his unique access, but added: “I thought, ‘You know what? In my defence, I can say that I’ve had 25 years of keeping away from it’.
“If I’d come in and said: ‘Hey, guys. This is going to be the exclusive royal family cookbook,’ I think that would be a bit of a sellout. But I approached it as I approach every other book.”
He also revealed that he did Reformer Pilates to lose weight for the King’s Coronation and quipped that he recently asked his doctor for the weight-loss drug Ozempic, but was turned down.
Mr Parker Bowles added: “He worked out that [my] ... [weekly] rosé in summer is equivalent to, like, 18 cheeseburgers.”’
See the full feature in the October issue of British Vogue, which is available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday Sept 24.
