in the streets of London, the announcement of King Charles III’s cancer “shocked” the British

While Buckingham Palace wants to be optimistic, an entire nation was shaken by the revelation of the King of England’s cancer on Monday.

The king is suffering from cancer. After less than a year and a half on the British throne, Charles III embarked on a fight against “a form of cancer“unspecified – indicating, however, that it is not prostate cancer -, the announcement of which caused a shock in the United Kingdom on Monday February 5. The king began on Monday”a program of regular treatments, during which doctors advised him to postpone public activities“, according to the palace. It will however continue”to take care of state affairs and administrative tasks as usual“. If the 75-year-old sovereign assured to be “very optimistic” as for his treatment, which began on Monday, and that he would continue to carry out certain functions linked to his role as head of state of 15 countries including the United Kingdom, for the British met in London, it is a very bad new.

Francis drinks glasses heartily with two friends at the King’s Head, a London pub. Stuck in a corner around a small table, the three men don’t talk about football for once. Since they arrived, there has only been one topic of discussion: the king’s illness. “To be honest with you, I almost didn’t come tonight, he admits. When I heard the news, it took a toll on my morale. Everything that happens to the royal family affects me. They are part of our lives. They’re probably sad and it’s important for us too.”he specifies.

“I’m pretty confident.”

At the bar, James came to order a beer. While waiting for his pint, he wants to talk about Charles III’s cancer. They discussed it quickly at his table, but without much concern: “I’m quite confident. He’s surrounded by his loved ones and by us, the British. He’s going to get the best possible care in this country.”

Curious, Alan approaches and he too wants to talk about the king and his cancer. And more precisely about his treatment: he works for the NHS, the public health service, and from his first words, we understand that he does not support the monarchy.

“Other cancer patients will not get such attention, precisely because our hospitals are short of money and are in a very, very difficult situation.”

Alan, a Brit

at franceinfo

“How many more millions of pounds is it going to cost us?” he asks himself. But Alan would like to conclude by wishing Charles III a speedy recovery.

At the back of Buckingham Palace, in an empty side street, two young people are returning from a party. Hakim freezes when we talk about King Charles III, who has not yet recovered from the information that fell on his cell phone at the end of the day: “I was really surprised when I heard the news, I opened my phone and saw it on Instagram, I was really shocked”confides the young man.

Charles III followed the advice of his doctors, he postponed his public activities but he took care of state affairs and administrative tasks as usual. Buckingham Palace is rather optimistic, like Aylee, crossed a few steps from the royal residence: “It is of course not pleasant to learn that he has cancer. It’s the same scenario for all humans. I hope he recovers quickly, I hope people support him.”

A monarchy accustomed to medical secrecy

The fact remains that the support is discreet in front of Buckingham Palace: Monday evening, no one, no flowers, no messages, no onlookers… Only a few runners pass behind a row of journalists. A group of Egyptian students approach to see if the flag is at half-mast. It is not, obviously, but one of the young people takes advantage of it and welcomes the media coverage of this cancer in a monarchy rather accustomed to medical secrecy during the reign of Elizabeth II. “I think it’s important that they be more transparent about everythinghe believes. People who work in the palace need to give information and updates about what is happening to give hope.”

Giving hope to the population, and to the sick too, he specifies, in a special period for the royal family. It is now mainly up to Queen Camilla, 76, and William, 41, who must resume his activities on Wednesday after remaining at his wife’s bedside in recent days, to represent the monarchy to the public. Because, in addition to Charles III’s cancer, there is a mysterious abdominal operation for Kate, the wife of the future King William. She continues her recovery since leaving the hospital a week ago.