King Charles has been praised for giving his tour Down Under a ‘royal red hot crack’, despite suffering from the ‘Big C’.
His Majesty paused his cancer treatment for the grueling 11-day tour of and Samoa alongside Queen Camilla as they greeted dignitaries, attended functions and even faced down protesting politicians.
The 75-year-old monarch has appeared energetic and lively as he shook hands with legions of royal fans, tossed sausages on the BBQ and spoke of his admiration for top Aussie ‘tucker’.
But despite his positive outlook, there have been several tell tale signs that the King is not in his usual health.
In several photographs his lips have looked inflamed and red.
While Buckingham Palace has remained silent on what kind of cancer the King is suffering from and what treatment he is receiving for it, a senior oncologist told Daily Mail the photos appeared consistent with someone undergoing chemotherapy.
‘Several cancer treatments can cause soreness of the lips and mouth, which is consistent with those photos,’ the oncologist, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
‘But I wouldn’t want to speculate on what treatment he might be having given it is not public knowledge.
‘What I would say is that the King must be an inspiration to all those people who also sadly suffer from cancer, which is almost one in two ns.
‘Good on him for making the trip and giving it a royal red hot crack.’
Another foreboding sign of the King’s ill health came when his doctor was photographed carrying a large medical bag when Charles and Camilla attended a church service in North Sydney on Sunday.
The King has reportedly travelled with two of his personal doctors and a supply of his own blood, to ensure an exact match is at hand in the event a transfusion is required.
These same precautions were taken when his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, travelled abroad.
Charles III also has at his disposal some of the finest medical teams in whichever city he is travelling to, in addition to an ambulance that travels in convoy with his motorcade.
One notable feature of the King’s health that has not changed over time is the swollen appearance of his hands.
Charles himself has even previously joked about his fingers, daubing them ‘sausage fingers’ in a letter to a friend after the birth of his first son, Prince William in 1982.
‘I can’t tell you how excited and proud I am. He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine,’ he wrote, as quoted in Charles, The Man Who Will Be King by Howard Hodgson.
GP Chun Tang, Medical Director at Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, previously told there could be many causes for King Charles’ ‘sausage fingers’.
‘Often puffy fingers are a symptom of water retention which can be caused by numerous health conditions,’ Dr Tang said.
‘This condition arises due to inflammation and can be a result of arthritis, multiple bacterial infections or even TB.
‘Other possibilities include high salt levels, allergic reactions, medicinal side effects, injury and autoimmune disease.’
The King has never confirmed the cause of his swollen digits, which are medically known as dactylitis.
The King was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024 following routine prostate surgery.
Buckingham Palace said he did not have prostate cancer but would not reveal his actual diagnosis.
He stopped public engagements after beginning treatment but continued doing paperwork and his weekly one-on-one sessions with the UK Prime Minister.
In May, during one of his first public engagements, he made a surprise visit to an army barracks where he joked about being ‘allowed out of my cage’.
The tour Down Under was hanging in the balance for months with doctors worried about the grueling 24-hour journey and the punishing time difference.
New Zealand was removed from the itinerary following medical advice.
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward told GB News the King is a ‘workaholic’ who will have found it hard to curtail his public engagements.
‘The tour has been shortened, especially on the orders of his doctors who are traveling with him so that the King won’t get overtired,’ she said.
‘He would just jump into it and run through the tour, greet everyone and shake thousands of hands as he used to do but he’s really been held back a bit this time.’