Queen Camilla surprised everyone this week with a solo visit to the Dyson Cancer Centre in Bath, where she was inevitably asked about the great absentee. "He is doing very well," said the consort, who then directed the same question to a cancer patient, Paul Holdway. "I feel very tired," replied the recovering patient. Camilla, drawing from her own experience, retorted: "Men will never admit it," in a veiled reference to King Carlos and his tendency to not slow down, despite his illness.
Camilla's appearance, while King Carlos stayed taking care of his gardens in Scotland, has once again raised speculations about the monarch's recovery, undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer and appearing fragile in his recent public appearances during the cloudiest and rainiest summer in the last decade in the British Isles.
Against Camilla's own wishes, who has been recommending for months that he slow down and ease his busy schedule of public events, King Carlos decided to interrupt his Scottish vacation on the first day of August to travel to Southport (where three children died in a multiple stabbing). Days later, he met with the families at his residence in Clarence House and continued his treatment while in London.
Back in Scotland by helicopter, he chose to settle with Camilla at Birkhall instead of visiting Balmoral Castle - where Queen Elizabeth II passed away almost two years ago - only for protocol events, such as the meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer last Wednesday.
King Carlos III consciously chose the tranquility of Birkhall over the grandeur of Balmoral. According to sources close to the royal family speaking to the American portal The Daily Beast, the king is "sleeping a lot" and fills his days with relaxing activities like "reading, writing, painting, and gardening."
"He always loved putting on his wellies and working in the garden, which is his happy place," the same sources assure. Birkhall is indeed his second personal Eden after Highgrove, designed and cultivated hand in hand with the Queen Mother, who shared his passion for gardening.
This year, Carlos has avoided traditional royal activities such as hunting and fishing. He has also not been seen wearing his Scottish kilt as he did in 2023, before his diagnosis became public. These changes are obviously attributed to his treatment, although other sources cited by The Daily Beast (British tabloids continue with their silence pact) claim that the king is "still unwell, despite the fantastically well-managed impression that everything is going well."
The next litmus test, practically his second rentrée since returning to public activity in April, will be the trip to Australia and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa from October 21 to 25. Buckingham Palace confirmed the visit a month and a half ago, acknowledging then that his first tour outside of Europe as king will not include New Zealand for "logistical reasons."
Plans are moving forward despite renewed concerns about his health, fueled once again by media outlets across the Atlantic. According to In Touch, the late August visit to Balmoral by Prince William and Kate Middleton (who were photographed for the third time this summer at Crathie Kirk church) reportedly included a meeting between father and son about "the future of the Crown."
Meanwhile, The Daily Express has stirred up speculation that King Carlos wants to evict Prince Andrew from the Royal Lodge in Windsor before the end of the year to personally gift it to Queen Camilla. Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield warns the British tabloid, "The king is thinking long-term and may want to leave Camilla that mansion (with 30 rooms) where he spent so much time with the Queen Mother, in case the worst happens."
King Carlos III's 76th birthday on November 14 is another date marked on the calendar to assess the monarch's health and readiness to continue with his royal duties. He already celebrated the anniversary in advance in June with his presence at the Trooping the Colour parade, followed by his return to Ascot races, the State Visit of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan, summer parties with top hat and umbrella at Buckingham Palace, and the weight of the Crown in the King's Speech, dictated by Prime Minister Keir Starmer after the most tumultuous period in recent British politics, which inevitably took a toll on the monarch.