King Charles’ health is not good these days. He announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, and though he has since returned to his full royal duties, the reality remains that he is still receiving treatment and is not in remission: Charles is just living with cancer.
That has reportedly made Charles more sensitive to others people’s health concerns, according to RadarOnline. In fact, the monarch was left distressed after a failed attempt to contact his longtime friend Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who’s retreated from the public eye amid his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.
“The King cares enormously about Ran and was genuinely troubled and in a bit of agony when he heard what was happening,” one source told the outlet. “This isn’t somebody he knows casually – there is a friendship stretching back decades. It’s especially distressing with Charles fighting cancer. He has developed the feeling that he wants no one in pain.”
They added, “His instinct was simply to reach out privately, express his concern and ask whether there was anything he could do. Being unable to establish contact has been incredibly upsetting.”
Charles reportedly feels if he can’t get through, who can? “For somebody of the King’s position to make a personal effort like that and then find the door effectively closed was difficult,” the insider said. “His concern has always been for his friend’s welfare.”
Reportedly, explorer Anton Bowring contacted Buckingham Palace in 2025, claiming that Fiennes was “in a very poor state” and friends were worried. Charles’ equerry at the time, William Thornton, then told Bowring that the King wanted to write to Fiennes, his wife Louise Millington-Cotes, and their daughter Elizabeth to offer help. However, the family apparently had issues with their personal information being shared.
This comes as Fiennes’ stepson, Alexander Millington-Cotes, has launched a $73,000 crowdfunding campaign to finance legal efforts to protect his mother’s authority over Fiennes care. Concerns about his welfare have been raised, but Cheshire police have reportedly said his care was appropriate, and there are no immediate concerns.
Charles recently had to deal with fresh demands that he apologize for Britain’s role in slavery. “The King has an extraordinary sense of duty, but there is no question that the relentless succession of controversies he has faced in recent years and months is really wearing him down, particularly when he is simultaneously dealing with cancer,” RadarOnline recently reported.
“Harry’s move back to Britain created another complicated situation for the institution and resulted in the Palace having to make the position surrounding his status absolutely clear. Then Charles Spencer’s book about Diana reopened some of the most painful episodes of the King’s life.”
The conversation about Britain’s role in the slave trade isn’t one that’s likely to stop. “Now there is another highly sensitive issue awaiting him overseas. Charles has spoken very strongly about the horrors of slavery, but demands for a formal apology and reparations take the matter into much more complicated constitutional and political territory,” sources said.
“He carries on working because that is what he believes his role requires, but these controversies do not occur in isolation. One arrives before the previous one has subsided, and inevitably that takes a toll.”
