Since the Easter event in early April, Charles has been dormant for about 3 weeks.
During this period, he was rarely seen by the public, and even when he did appear, it was through the glass of his limousine.......
(On April 10, Charles was photographed in the back seat of the sedan)
Since he was already quite small when he came to power, it is known that Charles's reign is destined to be short, but how short exactly?
No one knows, and no one dares to predict it publicly, at most, they secretly demarcate a "shelf life" for him in their hearts.
With Charles' diagnosis of cancer, the prediction has shortened accordingly, but yesterday's report seemed to suggest that there may still be optimism about Charles's condition......
"Charles's funeral plan is being updated regularly after his cancer diagnosis: "He's really, really badly"
(Latest Revelations)
Specifically, we divided it into two parts: "Funeral Plan" and "Charles's Condition".
-
Let's start with the "funeral plan" part.
Everyone must face their own death in the end, and the royal family is no exception - it is better to know death as early as a member of the royal family, because their lives are not only their own, but also too many people.
According to Christopher Andersen, the New York Times' best-selling royal writer, every senior royal must plan for his or her death before he or she dies.
When Harry and William were only teenagers, the royal family tasked them with planning their funerals: what music to choose, what bouquets to want, which verses to say and who to recite them......
It's cruel, but it's also necessary.
(William Harry at the Queen's funeral)
As for Charles's funeral plan, it was also prepared early, called the "Menai Bridge Plan", which corresponds to the Queen's "London Bridge", and it is said that the document is hundreds of pages long, and everything is very small.
Disturbingly, as Charles' illness progressed, officials seemed to revise the Menai Bridge plan......
Multiple sources have revealed to the Daily Beast that officials are regularly reviewing the Menai Bridge plan, fueling pessimism within the royal family.
The first source, let's call Ta Informant A, is a former employee of the royal family, but is still in active contact with colleagues:
"The Menai Bridge Project has been dusted off and is being actively and regularly renewed. ”
"Everyone knew that the king had cancer, so the funeral plan wasn't really unexpected. However, the large-scale circulation of the Menai Bridge documents will definitely attract attention. ”
(At the beginning of the month, Charles went out after attending the Easter event)
Informant B, who knows a senior official directly involved in funeral planning, said:
"Isn't it natural for them to look at every aspect of the Menai Bridge, because the Queen's funeral is as tight as a clock, and the standard is set. ”
"Funerals shouldn't be seen as emotional, it's a job, a very serious job. As you can imagine, no one wants to stab Lou Zi and get caught. ”
Informant C, who is simply a military person, said a long sentence to the effect that:
"The army must prepare for the worst. The king's funeral will involve VIPs among VIPs from all over the world, from small personal assassinations to large missile attacks, and we must take precautions early and take every angle into account. ”
In fact, the day after the Queen's burial, people began to plan Charles's funeral in earnest. ”
"So of course the Menai Bridge documents will always be reviewed, but it would be ridiculous to try to extrapolate Charles's health from that point. ”
(Charles, schematic)
It's clear to say so.
For the royal family and for the British government, the Menai Bridge plan was just an "inevitable gathering of heads of state".
If you don't keep 800 filings, don't block every sniper angle, you can't sleep,
So they must be updating the Menai Bridge documents in real time, but that doesn't mean that Charles' health is good or bad.....
It's just that now that Charles is known to have cancer, it would be unlucky to bring his funeral to the table, and it will inevitably fuel some pessimism, but this cannot be avoided......
-
Next is the part of Charles's condition.
Of course, if you want to know about the condition, the best channel is the royal official, but the only news released by the official at present is that Charles is not suffering from prostate cancer, and the rest are all avoided.
And the team has already said that "there will be no real-time updates on his health",
So it's hard to get any information out of their mouths.
(The day after he was diagnosed with cancer, Charles leaves Clarence Palace)
The latest revelation comes from an "old friend of the royal family" found by the Daily Beast, who said:
"Of course he's determined to beat the disease, and they're doing their best. Everybody was optimistic, but he was really, really bad. More serious than the news they are putting out so far. ”
This "old friend of the royal family" has previously revealed the truth about the Queen's death, that is, multiple myeloma.
This was later confirmed by the well-known royal biographer Gyles Brandreth.
Therefore, the reliability of the news of "old friends of the royal family" should still be there.
It's just that Charles is exactly how sick he is, and he didn't elaborate.
(Queen, Charles)
However, an unnamed cancer specialist speculated that Charles should be undergoing radiation therapy because he can always be seen traveling to London regularly (he now lives in Norfolk and is not there).
Compared to chemotherapy, radiotherapy machines are very large and may only be available in London, and chemotherapy equipment is much smaller. If chemotherapy alone, Charles didn't have to run to London all the time.
Aside from the gossip of these informants, unfortunately, there is not much new material.
The British media remained unusually silent this time around.
In fact, the sources used in this article are basically American media, because the British media have collectively silenced, and no one has reprinted such a big material as "Menai Bridge", which is very abnormal.
According to US media speculation, there are roughly two reasons for this:
First, out of respect for the royal family and not wanting to damage the relationship with the royal family;
Second, the UK has very strict laws on medical privacy and the release of personal information, and even if the British media get the exact news that Charles has such and such cancer, they can't release it.
(Kate's medical records were leaked before, and the hospital was dealt with)
However, from the clues reported by the British media before, American reporters still tasted some "hints", suggesting that Charles's reign may be shorter than people think.
The most obvious is from the Daily Mail's February 22 op-ed, which reads:
"William wanted to overhaul the coronation process. He was advised to wait until the election was over and then make peace with the new prime minister. ”
"But now that change is in the works, Willian won't be as relaxed as he was expected a few weeks ago. ”
(Original: William's pace is not expected to be as calm as it was a few weeks ago)
This means that William can't wait until the next general election......
In the next paragraph of the article, William's political leanings are introduced, saying that he may hate former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying that his fate is "the wall of the prison", and then comes a sentence:
"As William's moment approached, so did the prison wall. ”
(Original: William's time is approaching)
This simply can't be called a hint......
The column, which is written and edited by Daily Mail reporters on a rotational basis, is somewhat representative of their collective consciousness.
Looking at the time again, on February 22, about half a month after Charles's official announcement of cancer, did they get any inside information?
Of course, in addition to the British media, some American media have also given heavy hints, such as Tina Brown's guest article in the New York Times.
(Original article by Tina Brown)
It mentions:
The news of Charles and Kate's cancer came out almost at the same time, much to William's and Kate's horror. They thought they would have a few more years to educate their children in peace and away from the public eye, but now, the throne is close at hand. ”
"Such prospects, I've heard, make them extremely anxious. ”
Understood in reverse, isn't it that Charles doesn't even have "a few years"?
Tina Brown is the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and one of the founding editors of The Daily Beast.
Most importantly, she has a very close relationship with the British royal family. In 2000, the Queen even awarded her an Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contributions to journalism.
(Tina Brown)
But having said that, inferring Charles's illness from these clips alone is suspicious of catching wind and taking things out of context, and there is a way that may be more reliable, that is, to observe Charles's future itinerary to judge the British official expectations of his health.
June 15 is Charles's "official birthday", and the British tradition celebrates with a military parade, and there have been many reports that Charles is determined to participate, but there may be some changes in the form, and some physically demanding parts, such as horseback riding, will be removed.
"King Charles is determined to attend the parade, but he may need to ride in a carriage as instructed by the doctor"...
"The king's aides set up a plan for him to participate in the parade"...
"The King May Attend a Military Parade During Cancer Treatment, But the Way to Arrive May Be Changed"...
(3 related reports)
Then in late June, the royal family has a traditional event, the Ascot Horse Racing Festival. The royal family took this very seriously, and the queen was unable to participate in only one of the 70 years of her reign.
Charles also did not want to break with tradition and had informed his aides that he planned to attend.
(Charles has told his assistant to attend the Ascot Horse Racing Festival)
And then, Charles has a state visit to Australia to go,
This was followed by a summit meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Samoa in mid-October.
Neither of these plans has been cancelled, which proves that the British official forecast for Charles's condition is relatively stable - at least until November, Charles will still be able to move normally, but it is not clear further away.
To sum up, Charles is most likely undergoing radiotherapy, which should be stable in the short term, but the long-term road to fighting cancer may be full of bumps, and he may not be as energetic as he seems on the surface.
(Charles, schematic)
Now that the royal family is in turmoil, William doesn't know if he has adjusted his mentality, there are too many unknowns.
And judging from the fact that he is still coming forward to stabilize the situation after suffering from cancer, Charles is still very responsible as a monarch.
Presumably, both William and the British people hope that Charles can last a little longer, a little longer......