The king’s health: After annus horribilis, finally some good news

LONDON — In  1992, having weathered royal divorce and fire, the late Queen Elizabeth II memorably described her year as an “annus horribilis.”

Three decades on, the Latin phrase, literally translating as “horrible year,” could have been rolled out again by the royals, as they battled devastating health scares, family schisms and vicious social media rumor-mongering.

Now, finally, there is some brighter news, with Britain’s head of state King Charles III announcing Friday night that he’s heading back to work — even if questions linger about the extent of his recovery.

Charles — who only ascended to the throne after the death of his mother in 2022 — first sought treatment for an enlarged prostate in January, with Buckingham Palace announcing the following month that cancer had been detected.

In the first substantive update on his health since then, Buckingham Palace said Friday that Charles’ treatment isn’t over, but that doctors are “very encouraged by the progress made so far and remain positive about the King’s continued recovery.”

The announcement, carefully timed for the 6 p.m. news bulletins, will have been greeted with relief by a British public — not to mention a Westminster bubble — which has grown wearily accustomed to alarming news from the famously-secretive Buckingham Palace.

While Charles’ role is largely ceremonial, by convention the king does play a significant role in the smooth functioning of the British state. He signs acts of parliament into law and hosts gatherings of the Privy Council.

He also meets the prime minister once a week to provide something of a sounding board away from the sound and fury of Westminster — a rare sign of stability in a country that’s rapidly cycled through its leaders.

Concern over Kate’s health

The royals’ second annus horribilis began in January, when the king sought treatment at the fee-paying London Clinic for an enlarged prostate. At the same time, Charles’ daughter-in-law Kate Middleton, married to the next in line to the throne, Prince William, was admitted to the hospital for abdominal surgery.

The double shock at the prospect of two senior members of the royal family receiving in-patient health care was compounded when, in early February, Buckingham Palace announced that during the king’s procedure, cancer had been detected.

As the weeks passed, concern about the health of both Charles and Kate grew, particularly as the princess remained hidden from the public gaze.

On Mothering Sunday, which in the U.K. is celebrated in mid-March, Kate continued her tradition of issuing a photograph — and triggered a fresh crisis in the process.

A relative of the photographer watches television, as Catherine, The Princess of Wales announces that she is receiving a preventative course of chemotherapy for cancer. | Leon Neal/Getty Images

The smiling picture in which she posed with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, unexpectedly fueled internet conspiracy theories, when it emerged the photo had been clumsily doctored and was pulled by press agencies.

The princess was forced to issue a statement to quell rumors about her whereabouts, saying: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion.”

The kerfuffle came at a time of heightened social media interest in the prince and princess, partly as a result of their reported feud with the king’s youngest son, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan.

William and Harry are estranged, and while Harry flew back to the U.K. briefly to speak to his father following his diagnosis, the relationships between the royals remain strained.

A few weeks after the furore surrounding Kate’s Mother’s Day photograph, there was more bad news. The princess released a video message last month in which she disclosed that during her operation she too had been found to have cancer.

She asked for the public’s patience while she underwent treatment, adding that she was “well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.”

The news that the popular royal, who is only 42, was suffering from a serious condition came as a profound shock to a public still reeling from the news about the king, and following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth 18 months ago after 70 years on the throne.

While big questions remain about the precise form of cancer Charles is battling — not to mention the scale of the duties he’ll be picking back up — news of his “continued recovery” provides some relief in a country where polls show the monarchy remains popular.