Buckingham Palace courtiers devised a plan with a two-word codename to support King Charles after his cancer diagnosis was made public to “reassure an anxious nation”.
The King was diagnosed with a form of cancer in February 2024, sending shockwaves around the world as he underwent treatment for the diagnosis and temporarily stepped back from public engagements.
As reported by Rebecca English in the Daily Mail, “Operation Delphinium” was devised by palace coutiers in a nod to the King’s favourite flower.
An insider said: “I’m not sure even His Majesty knows [that’s what it was called].”
King Charles bucked centuries of royal tradition as tried to be as open as possible about his condition. As reported in the Times, a palace source stated the King’s decision not to reveal the type of cancer was a conscious choice to be able to reach out to the widest number of people who are experiencing the disease, rather than narrow the focus onto a particular form of cancer.
King Charles’s cancer treatment will continue into 2025 and is moving “in a positive direction”. A Buckingham Palace insider told Sky News: “His treatment has been moving in a positive direction, and as a managed condition, the treatment cycle will continue into next year.”
The cancer diagnosis followed King Charles informing the public he would undergo a procedure to treat a large prostate at the start of the year, which led to a rise in searches for information about the condition.
The NHS website’s page on prostate enlargement received 11 times more visits than on the previous day after Buckingham Palace’s announcement that “in common with thousands of men each year” the King was receiving treatment. One person visited the site every five seconds, or 16,410 in total, NHS England said.
Throughout the course of the year, the King has received regular treatment which he paused with the approval of doctors in October to allow himself and Queen Camilla to complete their jam-packed royal tour of Australia and Samoa. He then resumed the treatment when he returned to the UK.
After the tour, it was announced that Charles, 76, would continue a full royal tour in 2025 if it gained medical approval.
It has been a busy end of 2024 for King Charles and Queen Camilla as for their final visit of the year they wanted to thank communities who responded to the disorder that flared up in the summer following the Southport stabbings with a visit to Waltham Forest in London.
The royal couple met local community volunteers, young people, emergency services, and faith representatives. When Harvinder Rattan, a Sikh faith representative asked after his health, the king jokingly replied: “I’m still alive.”
This followed the pre-Christmas lunch hosted by His Majesty on December 19 at Buckingham Palace, a major event which the Prince and Princess of Wales missed as the Wales family are already in Norfolk, celebrating the start of the holidays.
Kate and William, however, will be with the King and Queen in time for the traditional Christmas family reunion, and join more members of the Firm for the annual morning Christmas walk from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene Church on December 25.
