King Charles has been praised for giving his Down Under tour a ‘red-hot royal crack’, despite suffering from the ‘Big C’.
Her Majesty paused her cancer treatment during the grueling 11-day tour of Australia and Samoa alongside Queen Camilla as they greeted dignitaries, attended functions and even confronted protesting politicians.
The 75-year-old monarch looked energetic and animated as he shook hands with legions of royal admirers, threw sausages on the barbecue and spoke of his admiration for Australia’s greatest tucker.
But despite his positive outlook, there have been several telltale signs that the King is not in his usual health.
In several photographs her lips have looked swollen and red.
While Buckingham Palace has remained silent about what type of cancer the King suffers from and what treatment he is receiving, an experienced oncologist told Daily Mail Australia that the photos appeared consistent with someone receiving chemotherapy.
“Various cancer treatments can cause pain in the lips and mouth, which is consistent with the photographs,” said the oncologist, who asked to remain anonymous.
“But I wouldn’t want to speculate on what treatment he might have been given, as it is not public knowledge.”
The 75-year-old monarch was energetic and animated as he shook hands with his fans, threw sausages on the barbecue and spoke of his admiration for Australia’s greatest tucker.
But despite his positive outlook, there have been several telltale signs that the King is not in his usual health. In several photographs her lips have looked swollen and red.
‘What I would say is that the King should be an inspiration to all those people who unfortunately also suffer from cancer, which is almost one in two Australians.
“Good for him for making the trip and giving it a real red-hot touch.”
Another foreboding sign of the King’s poor health came when his doctor was photographed carrying a large medical bag when Charles and Camilla attended a church service in northern Sydney on Sunday.
The King has reportedly traveled with two of his personal doctors and a supply of his own blood, to ensure there is an exact match should a transfusion be required.
These same precautions were taken when his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, traveled abroad.
Carlos III also has at his disposal some of the best medical equipment in any city he travels to, in addition to an ambulance that travels in convoy with his entourage.
One notable feature of the King’s health that has not changed over time is the swollen appearance of his hands.
Charles himself has even previously joked about his fingers, painting them as “sausage fingers” in a letter to a friend after the birth of his first son, Prince William, in 1982.
Another foreboding sign of the King’s poor health came when his doctor was photographed carrying a large medical bag when Charles and Camilla attended a church service on Sunday (pictured).
‘I can’t express how excited and proud I am. He really does look surprisingly appetizing and has sausage fingers like mine,” he wrote, quoted in Howard Hodgson’s Charles, The Man Who Will Be King.
GP Chun Tang, medical director at Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, previously told MailOnline there could be many causes for King Charles’ “sausage toes”.
“Swollen fingers are often a symptom of water retention that can be caused by numerous health conditions,” said Dr. Tang.
‘This condition arises due to inflammation and can be a result of arthritis, multiple bacterial infections or even tuberculosis.
“Other possibilities include elevated salt levels, allergic reactions, medication side effects, injuries, and autoimmune diseases.”
The King has never confirmed the cause of his swollen fingers, which are medically known as dactylitis.
The King was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024 following routine prostate surgery.
Buckingham Palace said he did not have prostate cancer, but did not reveal his actual diagnosis.
One notable feature of the King’s health that has not changed over time is the swollen appearance of his hands.
Charles himself has even previously joked about his fingers, painting them as “sausage fingers” in a letter to a friend after the birth of his first son, Prince William. He and Queen Camilla are pictured putting on the tongs at a barbecue in Parramatta on Tuesday.
He stopped his public commitments after starting treatment, but continued doing paperwork and his weekly one-on-one sessions with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In May, during one of his first public engagements, he made a surprise visit to an army barracks where he joked that they would “let him out of my cage.”
The Australian tour had been on the cards for months with doctors concerned about the grueling 24-hour journey and grueling time difference.
New Zealand was removed from the itinerary on medical advice.
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward told GB News that the king is a “workaholic” who will have found it difficult to limit his public engagements.
“The trip has been shortened, especially by order of the doctors traveling with him so that the King does not get too tired,” he said.
“He was just jumping up and down the course, saying hello to everyone and shaking thousands of hands like he used to, but this time he’s really been held back a little bit.”