King Charles announces 'good news' of reduction in his cancer treatment
The monarch also urged people to attend screening appointments during a video message for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign
The King has announced his cancer treatment is being reduced in the new year and urged millions to take up available screenings for the disease.
Charles' personal update about his health was made in a video message in support of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, and he said the "good news" was down to early diagnosis, successful care and following "doctors' orders".
The head of state has been receiving cancer treatment as an outpatient since early February 2024, believed to be weekly visits to the London Clinic, but these sessions are to be significantly cut back.
He described how from his own experience "a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming" and paid tribute to the "community of care" - specialists, nurses, researchers and volunteers - surrounding every patient.
Charles said: "Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.
"Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.
"Indeed, today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to 'doctors' orders', my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year."
His video message was aired during a Channel 4 night of comedy, entertainment and awareness-raising for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, a joint initiate between the broadcaster and Cancer Research UK, which the King supports as patron, to raise funds and promote cancer screening.
Sir Keir Starmer called the King's announcement a "powerful message".
"I know I speak for the entire country when I say how glad I am that his cancer treatment will be reduced in the new year," the Prime Minister added.
"Early cancer screening saves lives."
Charles also praised "remarkable advances" in cancer care that made his positive health update possible but it is not known what form his treatment takes.
In recent years developments have included immunotherapy treatment, where the patient's immune system finds and kills cancer cells, and targeted medicines that use a tumour's specific genetic makeup to guide treatment.
Charles said: "This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives."
He commented that worryingly there are "at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis" being missed as this number of people had not taken up cancer screenings that are available. Charles gave the example of bowel cancer where, if caught early, nine in 10 people survive for at least five years, but if diagnosed late that falls to one in 10.
The message aired just before Davina McCall, who recently revealed she has been treated for breast cancer, presented a live show from a cancer clinic at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, following patients through crucial moments from test results to treatment.
The King's cancer diagnosis was announced on February 6 last year and he postponed all public-facing engagements for almost three months.
The previous month, Charles spent three nights in hospital for a procedure on an enlarged prostate, during which time his cancer - not prostate cancer - was discovered.
His form of cancer has not been disclosed on the advice of experts so he can engage with all cancer patients, and it is not known how long he will require treatment.
Charles stepped up his workload at the start of the year following positive progress with his cancer care and that has continued, despite what a source described at the time as a "minor bump" of spending a short stay in hospital after experiencing temporary cancer treatment side effects in March.
"I am told people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable. If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part," the King said.
He went on to highlight Cancer Research UK's Screening Checker which helps adults check eligibility for national breast, bowel or cervical cancer screening programmes and "demystifies the process, answers your questions, and guides you towards taking that crucial step".
Speaking in the pre-recorded messaged filmed in Clarence House in late November, the King added: "As I have observed before, the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion.
"But compassion must be paired with action. This December, as we gather to reflect on the year past, I pray that we can each pledge, as part of our resolutions for the year ahead, to play our part in helping to catch cancer early.
"Your life - or the life of someone you love - may depend upon it."
Reaction from Jonathan Dimbleby
The King's message about his cancer recovery "will save lives", Charles' friend and authorised biographer Jonathan Dimbleby has said.
The broadcaster, 81, spoke to the BBC's Today programme on Saturday after Charles announced on Friday he will be scaling back his cancer treatment in the new year.
"This was a remarkable thing for a monarch to do," Mr Dimbleby told Today.
"It's worth just bearing this in mind, in the long context of our relationship with our royal family, it's not very often that a monarch would speak so openly, so directly, about a very personal health issue.
"It's not an easy thing to come and say publicly, oh yes, I just want you to know I've got this cancer or that cancer.
"It takes guts, and the fact that he came out and did that will save lives, and people will be less frightened of saying 'we must go and get a test'."
Mr Dimbleby told Times Radio about his father, the journalist and broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, who died at the age of 52 from testicular cancer at a time when the disease was not openly discussed.
"He'd been too embarrassed by the symptoms of testicular cancer, and he didn't go until it was late in the day when he reported it.
"However, he lived on and he worked flat out until a few months before his death, and in that time, no-one knew.
"People said, isn't he looking a bit gaunt? That was about all there was.
"We've advanced so far from that, but we need to go further, and the King is very, very aware of that.
"Huge advances make it much more likely to live for a long time or cure cancers, but only if people have early treatment."
Mr Dimbleby also described the King's commitment to his cancer treatment, despite his frustration that it meant he had to take time away from his royal duties.
"I wouldn't regard him as a good patient, in the sense he says 'oh yes, another day of treatment coming up'," Mr Dimbleby told Times Radio.
"On the contrary, he found it irritating.
"It got in the way of his programme, because, you know, he's so aware that the programme matters. He really cares for it."