King Charles’ Cancer Diagnosis Caught Even Palace Insiders Off Guard: ‘Shocked’ (Exclusive)

King Charles’ shocking cancer crisis is the headline story for PEOPLE this week. An exclusive clip follows below.

On February 4, the royal family took to their social media to mark World Cancer Day, showing photos of Queen Camilla at a new cancer center in the UK. The same morning, King Charles, 75, accompanied by Camilla, 76, attended a morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church near their Sandringham estate.

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The monarch, still recovering from January 26 surgery for a benign enlarged prostate, waved cheerfully to well-wishers, giving no hint of the impending announcement that would rock the world just a day later: Charles has cancer, the palace revealed in a 138-word statement that concluded: “His Majesty has decided to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope that it can help build public understanding for those around the world who are affected by cancer.”

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While the statement offered few details, the palace revealed that when Charles underwent a prostate procedure, a separate issue of concern was discovered, and “subsequent diagnostic tests revealed the presence of a form of cancer.” (The type of cancer was not disclosed in keeping with the palace’s tight-lipped approach to medical conditions, but it was not prostate cancer, a spokesman confirmed.)

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“In time we might know,” Robert Hardman, author of the book The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “but for now, there’s a sense that they’ve been pretty open.”

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The king has begun “regular treatments” and will suspend public duties, the palace statement added, noting that Charles “remains completely positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duties as soon as possible.”

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Those close to the family were taken aback by the announcement. “I was really shocked when I heard that,” says a palace insider.

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A source who knows him adds: “He didn’t look at himself. I put it down to bereavement – he had two deaths close together [his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in Sept. 2022 and his father, Prince Philip in April 2021]— but perhaps he was not well without being aware of it. That would get him out of his head.”

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King Charles at his coronation on May 6, 2023.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

The news comes just nine months into Charles’ reign and just 17 months after the death of Queen Elizabeth at the age of 96.

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It also marks a particularly difficult start to the new year for the royal family: On January 16, Princess Kate, 42, underwent a 13-day hospitalization for abdominal surgery—which led to Prince William temporarily stepping back from public duties to care for Kate and the three the couple’s children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

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The potential for increased responsibilities for his son and heir, William, 41, has once again highlighted the thinned ranks of the royal family following the departure of Charles’ younger son Prince Harry, 39, and the removal of Charles’ scandal-plagued brother Prince Andrew, 63.

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A palace insider says: “He will want to continue with the job. But that will depend on what kind of treatment he has. It could completely exhaust him. He will need a lot of support.”

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For more on this story, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

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Source: HIS Education