Sovereign to Deliver First-Hand Message on Illness in Nationwide Address
The Monarch has filmed a first-hand account about his battle with cancer, set to air as part of this year's Stand Up To Cancer drive, run by a leading cancer charity and a major network.
The royal household stated the King would discuss his "recovery journey" as a person living with the disease, in a recorded address on Friday evening at 20:00 GMT.
The address, recorded at Clarence House two weeks ago, will highlight the vital significance of routine screenings to ensure more people catch the disease at an treatable phase.
This represents a uncommon insight on the wellbeing of the Monarch, who has been in a course of therapy since his condition was announced in early last year. But it is thought doubtful the King will specify his specific form of cancer.
Fundraising Central Purpose
The annual charity initiative each year collects money for clinical trials and therapies and encourages people to get check-ups to increase the chances of an prompt identification.
The King's candid approach about his illness, and managing the disease, has been intended to promote education and to get more people to get screened - and this will be taken a step further with this unique personal contribution.
Up until now the King's key philosophy to his cancer has been to keep working, maintaining a busy schedule in spite of his frequent sessions of therapy, and he appears not to have sought to be overshadowed by his condition.
The past twelve months has seen the 77-year-old Monarch, taking several overseas trips, including to Italy and Canada, and hosting the biggest number of official guests to the UK for decades, which included the German president in recent days.
Charity Special Show
The upcoming Stand Up to Cancer show on television, hosted by presenters like several TV personalities, will urge people not to be scared of getting preventative tests.
The hosts have been personally touched by cancer - one host said recently she had received treatment for breast cancer, while Balding was treated for thyroid cancer over a decade ago. Presenter Hills has previously spoken about his late father, who had one form of cancer and then later leukaemia.
The programme will appeal to the roughly millions of 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 tests for breast, bowel and cervical cancer.
In an bid to clarify cancer checks and show the value of prompt detection there will be a real-time transmission from hospital departments at two Cambridge hospitals in Cambridge.
"My aim is to remove the anxiety surrounding cancer screening and show the public that they are not isolated in this," stated Davina McCall.
Understanding Screening Programmes
At present in the UK, there are several key publicly available checks - for major health concerns - offered to certain age groups.
A emerging lung cancer screening programme is also being slowly rolled out for people at high risk of contracting the disease, focusing on people aged 55-74 years old, who are smokers or have smoked in the past.
Individuals may discuss prostate cancer checks, but there is no national programme currently available.
Ongoing Efforts
The Stand Up to Cancer campaign, which has generated a significant sum since 2012, is funding multiple clinical trials with many patients.
The Monarch, in a statement for dignitaries at a event for cancer charities in the spring, had referred to recognising the "overwhelming and at times alarming situation" for those diagnosed and their support networks.
But he said his first-hand encounter of living with cancer had demonstrated that "periods of great challenge of sickness can be alleviated by the support of carers," as he praised those who looked after cancer patients.
Official sources has not disclosed the specific type of cancer the King has, or the therapies he has undergone. The King's cancer was detected following he had undergone a routine operation.
