We have an update on the condition of King Charles.
According to a Buckingham Palace source who spoke on Friday to NBC News, the monarch’s cancer treatment is “moving in a positive direction,” nearly a year after he was diagnosed with the awful disease.
The insider emphasized that while progress has been made, the King’s cancer remains in a “managed condition,” meaning that his “treatment cycle will continue into next year.”
It remains unclear just what type of cancer has afflicted King Charles.
There’s been chatter that he’s battling pancreatic cancer, which has an extremely low five-year survival rate; to be clear, we cannot confirm this rumor.
King Charles was just a year and a half into his reign when Buckingham Palace initially confirmed his cancer diagnosis in February.
The statement explained that the 76-year-old chose to share his health status partly “in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”
During a visit to the Dyson Cancer Center at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, England in September, Queen Camilla — who married Charles in 2005 — was asked by Suzy Moon of Macmillan Cancer Support about the king’s health status.
“He is doing very well,” she responded at the time.
Charles resumed his Royal duties in April after taking several weeks off.
In January, meanwhile, Kate Middleton was hospitalized for almost two weeks to undergo abdominal surgery for unspecified reasons back then.
While initial tests did not indicate cancer, further testing revealed “cancer had been present,” she said in a taped video statement.
For his part, the 75-year old monarch issued his first public statement in regard to the illness not long after we learned about it.
“I would like to express my most heartfelt thanks for the many messages of support and good wishes I have received in recent days,” the King said through Buckingham Palace.
“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organisations which support cancer patients and their families across the U.K. and wider world.
“My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience.”