King Charles had to reign back from a number of public duties this year as a result of his cancer diagnosis in February.
While he has stepped back onto the royal stage massively over the last few months as he continues his cancer treatment and starts to feel well again, royal experts believe that his health issues have annoyed him for one key reason.
Like his mother the late Queen Elizabeth II, the King, who is 76 today, has been frustrated at his inability to carry out some of his royal roles as a result of the doctors’ orders.
During his recent Royal Tour of Australia and Samoa, the King did not shy away from showing his annoyance at the setbacks his cancer diagnosis has caused him, with a royal expert believing it was this that annoyed him the most his year.
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK!: “He is enjoying being King and was understandably annoyed to be stopped in his tracks by cancer.
“There is no indication when his treatment will end or what the final prognosis is, but it’s clear that Charles remains impatient to get on with the job of being monarch and is now getting back into his stride.
“He is a man with a keen sense of curiosity and I’m sure he will be hoping on his birthday that the visit to Australia and Samoa marked a turning point in his recovery and that he will indeed be carrying out almost a full diary of engagements in the coming year.
“I think he has found it very tough to heed the advice of his doctors, along with his wife and his friends, to slow down a bit.”
In Samoa, the monarch also touched on how orders from doctors regarding his health have stopped him doing some things he has wanted to do since taking to the throne.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa last month, he said: “It remains a lifelong aspiration to have visited all the countries of the Commonwealth – although nowadays it seems to be a race against our happily increasing numbers – as well as doctor’s orders.”
The King also revealed that he was no longer visiting New Zealand this year as a result of advice from his medical team, which includes the controversial doctor Michael Dixon who has been Head of the Royal Medical Household since late 2022.
During a royal engagement at Buckingham Palace in September, the King told the Black Ferns – a New Zealand women’s rugby union team – that his health meant he could not visit the country on his Autumn Royal Tour.
He said: “I am extremely sorry I can’t come to New Zealand in later October because of doctor’s orders. But I hope there will be another excuse before too long.”
The King is expected to return to a normal schedule of Royal Tours in 2025 if he gets the thumbs up from his doctors.
