Monarch to Share Intimate Message on Cancer in Nationwide Broadcast

King Charles has recorded a first-hand account about his battle with cancer, which will be broadcast as part of this year's Stand Up To Cancer campaign, organised by a leading cancer charity and a television broadcaster.

Official sources said the King would talk about his "healing process" as a person living with the disease, in a recorded address on this Friday at 20:00 GMT.

The message, recorded at Clarence House two weeks ago, will stress the critical nature of routine screenings to help guarantee more people diagnose the disease at an early stage.

This represents a rare update on the medical condition of the King, who has been in a course of therapy since revealing his diagnosis in early last year. But it is thought doubtful the King will identify his type of cancer.

The Campaign's Primary Goal

The Stand Up To Cancer event each year generates donations for scientific studies and patient care and prompts people to get check-ups to improve the probability of an timely detection.

The King's public discussion about his illness, and managing the disease, has been designed to promote education and to encourage more people to get tested - and this will be advanced with this unique direct participation.

Up until now the King's main approach to his cancer has been to keep working, preserving a busy schedule despite his regular rounds of treatment, and he is understood not to have desired to be overshadowed by his condition.

The past twelve months has seen the King, 77, embarking on several international tours, notably to Italy and Canada, and receiving the biggest number of inward state visits to the UK for almost 40 years, which included the German president last week.

Charity Broadcast Event

Friday evening's Stand Up to Cancer programme on television, hosted by presenters such as Davina McCall, Adam Hills and Clare Balding, will urge people not to be scared of getting health screenings.

Each presenter have been had experience with cancer - one host revealed in November she had undergone surgery for the disease, while Clare Balding was treated for a thyroid condition in the past. Host Adam Hills has previously spoken about his late father, who had stomach cancer and then later another illness.

The show will target the approximate 9m people in the UK who health organisations state are not current with national health programmes, with an online checker to let people determine if they are able for examinations for several common cancers.

In an attempt to clarify health tests and demonstrate the value of early diagnosis there will be a real-time transmission from cancer clinics at two Cambridge hospitals in Cambridge.

"I want to remove the anxiety from cancer screening and show the public that they are not alone in this," said Davina McCall.

Understanding Screening Programmes

Right now in the UK, there are three national health screening services - for major health concerns - offered to specific demographics.

A new scheme for lung health is also being slowly rolled out for individuals at increased risk of contracting the condition, primarily aimed at people in a specific age bracket, who currently smoke or have smoked in the past.

Individuals may enquire about prostate screenings, but there is not a universal scheme currently available.

Ongoing Efforts

The Stand Up to Cancer campaign, which has raised over one hundred million pounds over the past decade, is financing multiple research studies with many patients.

His Majesty, in a message for dignitaries at a reception for support groups in April, had discussed recognising the "daunting and at times scary reality" for patients and their support networks.

But he noted his first-hand encounter of living with cancer had shown him that "the darkest moments of disease can be illuminated by the support of carers," as he thanked those who looked after those receiving treatment.

Official sources has not made public what kind of cancer the King has, or what treatment he has undergone. The King's cancer was identified subsequent to he had received a routine operation.