Monarch to Share First-Hand Statement on Cancer in Nationwide Programme
His Majesty has recorded a first-hand account about his battle with cancer, scheduled for transmission as part of this year's annual cancer awareness drive, run by a leading cancer charity and a major network.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the King would discuss his "healing process" as a person living with the disease, in a recorded address on this Friday at 20:00 GMT.
The recording, filmed within his London residence a fortnight ago, will highlight the vital significance of routine screenings to increase the likelihood more people catch the illness at an early stage.
This represents a infrequent public commentary on the medical condition of the King, who has been receiving ongoing care since revealing his diagnosis in early last year. However, it is believed doubtful the King will specify his specific form of cancer.
Fundraising Core Mission
The Stand Up To Cancer initiative each year raises funds for clinical trials and treatment and prompts people to get check-ups to boost the odds of an prompt identification.
The King's public discussion about his illness, and his experience as a patient, has been designed to increase understanding and to encourage more people to get checked - and this will be escalated with this unique personal contribution.
To date the King's key philosophy to his cancer has been to keep working, preserving a full diary despite his ongoing course of care, and he is understood not to have sought to be characterised by his illness.
The past twelve months has seen the 77-year-old Monarch, taking several overseas trips, such as visits to Italy and Canada, and hosting the biggest number of foreign dignitaries to the UK for decades, featuring the German president recently.
Charity Evening Programme
This Friday's charity show on the network, hosted by celebrities including a team of famous hosts, will urge people not to be afraid of getting health screenings.
All three have been had experience with cancer - McCall disclosed recently she had received treatment for breast cancer, while Balding was overcame the illness over a decade ago. Presenter Hills has previously mentioned his late father, who had a diagnosis and then later leukaemia.
The show will appeal to the approximate nine million people in the UK who health organisations estimate are not current with public health checks, with an website to let people see if they are eligible for screenings for several common cancers.
In an effort to clarify health tests and show the value of timely identification there will be a direct feed from cancer clinics at Addenbrooke's and Royal Papworth hospitals in Cambridge.
"I want to remove the anxiety from health checks and prove everyone that they are not on their own in this," stated one of the hosts.
The Landscape of Health Checks
Right now in the UK, there are three publicly available checks - for major health concerns - available to eligible individuals.
A emerging lung cancer screening programme is also being slowly rolled out for people at high risk of being diagnosed with the condition, focusing on people in a specific age bracket, who are smokers or have smoked in the past.
Men may request prostate cancer checks, but there is no national programme currently available.
Ongoing Efforts
The charity project, which has generated £113m over the past decade, is supporting multiple research studies encompassing thousands of patients.
His Majesty, in a statement for dignitaries at a event for related organisations in the spring, had referred to understanding the "overwhelming and at times frightening reality" for patients and their loved ones.
But he said his experience of coping with cancer had demonstrated that "the darkest moments of sickness can be brightened by the kindness of others," as he commended those who cared for individuals with the illness.
The Palace has not disclosed the nature of cancer the King has, or the medical care he has been given. The King's cancer was detected subsequent to he had had a prostate procedure.
