Charles has cancer, Kate is bedridden… a very difficult start to the year for the British Royal Family.

The bad news keeps coming for the British royal family. The announcement of King Charles III’s cancer on Monday evening added to a particularly difficult start to the year for the Windsors after Princess Kate’s surgery leaves her on holiday until at least Easter.

The 75-year-old king’s cancer was announced in a statement from Buckingham Palace late last night to “avoid speculation.” It clarified that the king had begun treatment and doctors had advised him to suspend his public activities, without further detailing the “form of cancer” he was suffering from. However, he will continue to “engage in government affairs and administrative tasks as usual,” the press release said.

Charles III, who succeeded his mother Elizabeth II almost a year and a half ago and was crowned on May 6, announced on January 17 that he would undergo surgery for an enlarged prostate. After visiting an upscale establishment in the center of the capital, where he spent three nights, he returned home on January 29, with the palace clarifying that he would not immediately renew his commitments “to allow him a period of recovery.” During this procedure, he was diagnosed with cancer.

He was admitted to the same facility as his 42-year-old sister-in-law Kate, who spent 13 days there in January, for abdominal surgery, the details of which were not disclosed. She was also released on January 29 for long-term convalescence at her home in Windsor, which is expected to last until at least Easter, March 31.

Camilla on the front line

The hugely popular Princess of Wales has not been seen since Christmas. Her husband, 41-year-old Prince William, the heir to the crown, suspended his activities after his wife was hospitalized on January 16. The couple have three children: 10-year-old George, 8-year-old Charlotte and 5-year-old Louis. William had just announced on Monday that he was going to take them back when the king’s cancer diagnosis was made public.

And Sarah Ferguson, 64, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, the king’s brother, announced on January 21 that she was suffering from malignant melanoma, a skin cancer. Six months earlier, in June 2023, she had already announced that she had been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. Malignant melanoma was discovered during tests ordered by a dermatologist, and the Duchess of York had to undergo reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy.

These successive health problems have almost halved the number of active members of the royal family, and Queen Camilla, 76, is on the front line, participating in numerous events every week.

Charles’ younger sister, Princess Anne, 73, is also in attendance, as is Prince Edward, 59, his younger brother, and his wife Sophie. But their activities, as a rule, receive much less coverage in the press.

The circle of active members of the British royal family has narrowed in recent years due to the departure of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to the United States, as well as the removal of Prince Andrew from affairs after a sex scandal. Also included are the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, 79 and 77, Princess Alexandra, 87, and the Duke of Kent, 88.