The good news? It seems that King Charles’ planned tour to Oceania will continue this fall—but, in some less great news (especially for those countries who were looking forward to seeing the King visit them), it seems the trip has been scaled back significantly in light of Charles’ cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Following a routine prostate procedure in late January, cancer was detected, and the King announced his diagnosis publicly on February 5, the same day he began receiving treatment. He returned to public duty on April 30, after about three months away.
According to The Daily Mail, the King and Queen Camilla were expected to visit Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji in October, but both the New Zealand and the Fiji legs of the Oceania tour will likely be dropped imminently as the King’s medical team orders Charles to pace himself as he continues his cancer recovery.
In addition to visiting Australia, the couple is also reportedly still expected to visit Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that same month.
“Officials first decided to drop Fiji and then New Zealand, because a trip like that is quite strenuous,” a source speaking to The Daily Mail said. “The tour will probably last around 10 days, covering Australia and Samoa.”
The tour is reportedly being referred to as “the autumn tour” by courtiers, and The Daily Mail writes that, while planning is still very much underway for it, it continues to be subject to medical advice and any “necessary modifications.”
Back in March, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that Charles and Camilla would be visiting come October, depending on the King’s health and cancer treatment, and when Charles returned to public duty in late April, sources said he was “hopeful” that the visit would go ahead. On Friday, reports emerged that the scaled-back plans would be “a bitter disappointment on both sides,” as Charles is keen to “make up for lost time.” New Zealand’s opposition MP Adrian Rurawhe said of the King’s potentially canceled plans to visit the country that “I was in Samoa recently, and the organization for the visit is quite advanced,” Rarawhe said. “There is a lot of excitement in the country and a huge operation in preparation. Nothing has been announced so far over here, but if the royal visit is canceled, New Zealanders will be typically reasonable about it.”
Charles is a known (and lifelong) workaholic, and his busy summer schedule has raised eyebrows and concerns about how his doctors feel about it. “The Court Circular suggests that the King has taken only three days off over the past two weeks, cramming in audiences, receptions, and key events such as Royal Ascot—where he missed only one day,” The Daily Mail reports. “Palace sources say the King’s diary is adapted on medical advice, but the full schedule echoes the words of friends who told The Sunday Times in May that Charles was a ‘bloody caged lion.’”
