Queen Elizabeth II passed away in 2022 after a reign of over 70 years. Now, less than two years later, her son Charles III is facing dire health battles of his own.
Here are the details from The Daily Beast, which talked to insiders of the British royal court:
The chatter that King Charles is significantly more unwell than his aides are letting on is proliferating in British society.
Speaking to friends of the king in recent weeks about his health, the most common response is a lowering of the voice by half an octave or so, followed by the sombre, drawn-out pronouncement: "It's not good."
His officials didn't respond to formal requests for comment on the matter from The Daily Beast. To be clear, his team have made it very clear, since the king disclosed his cancer diagnosis earlier this year — in an unprecedented act of royal transparency — that they wouldn't be providing a "running commentary" on his health.
The only detail that has been made public is that King Charles does not have prostate cancer, which is one of the more treatable forms of the disease.
The next in line to the throne is the son of Charles and Princess Diana, Prince William, but his wife Kate is also battling cancer at the moment.
The king's funeral plans are now being fine-tuned, according to the sources.
Friends of the family and insiders are genuinely distraught at the prospect that the U.K. could lose its king far sooner than any had imagined, but they are trying to stay positive.
One old friend of the family, for example, told The Daily Beast, "Of course he is determined to beat it and they are throwing everything at it. Everyone is staying optimistic, but he is really very unwell. More than they are letting on."
The same source told The Royalist that the late Queen Elizabeth was dying of bone marrow cancer in the months before she died, which was subsequently confirmed by royal friend and biographer Gyles Brandreth.
Compounding the sense of gloom, multiple sources have told The Daily Beast that officials are now regularly reviewing copies of the several-hundred-page "Menai Bridge" document.
The members of the royal family have code names based on bridges that detail the plans of their burial as they cross out of this life. Queen Elizabeth's funeral was called "Operation London Bridge." Menai Bridge is a suspension bridge in Wales.
Christopher Andersen, a New York Time best-selling author for his coverage of the royal family, encouraged the royal family to be transparent to avoid conspiracy theories, and had this to say:
"King Charles' reign will by definition be short, but it's anyone's guess at this time just how short."
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
