Queen Camilla Helps King Charles Deal With Cancer Diagnosis

King Charles poses in a light gray suit and flowers smiling while Queen Camilla cries while wearing a blue and white floral tunic

(Image credit: Aaron Chown - Pool/Getty Images)

published 28 October 2024

King Charles and Queen Camilla have completed their royal tour of Australia and Samoa, which was an incredibly eventful trip.

During their tour, the King was welcomed into the house of pain, and Queen Camilla dished on her husband's unusual bedtime routine. Camilla also burst into tears when King Charles suggested he may not "survive long enough" to return to the region. But throughout it all, Queen Camilla reportedly remained a pillar of strength for King Charles.

"The King gets great strength from the Queen being there, not least because she keeps it real," a senior palace source told GB News.

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The source also said that Charles was enjoying being able to carry out a royal tour, calling it "a great measure of the way that the King is dealing with his [cancer] diagnosis, and he's a great believer in mind, body and soul, and this combination works very well on a visit like this, because he feels that sense of duty so strongly."

King Charles wears a tan suit while smiling at wife Queen Camilla, who wears a light blue tunic with a striped pattern, while they pose on the beach in Apia, Samoa — King Charles and Queen Camilla in Apia, Samoa.

For King Charles, carrying out his duty as the British monarch is of the utmost importance, according to the outlet's royal source. "It's hard to overstate the joy that he takes from duty and service and being in public and seeing those crowds engaging with communities across the spectrum," they explained. "That really does lift his spirits. You can see that."

Over the weekend, the King and Queen attended a traditional Ava ceremony, which was held in the village of Siumu. There, Charles was given the honorary title of To'aiga-o-Tumua, and he gave a moving speech revealing just how much he'd enjoyed the royal tour.

"I shall always remain devoted to this part of the world and hope that I survive long enough to come back again and see you," King Charles said (via the Daily Mail). "We shall take away with us, I promise you, very special memories of our time here. We thank you for our wonderful gifts."

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Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.