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 Australia and Samoa with Queen Camilla, where they greeted dignitaries, attended functions and even faced protesting politicians.
The 75-year-old monarch looked energetic and lively as he shook hands with legions of royal fans, threw sausages on the barbecue and expressed his admiration for Australia’s top tucker.
But despite his positive outlook, there are several signs that the king is not in his usual health.
In several photos, his lips looked inflamed and red.
While Buckingham Palace remains silent on the type of cancer the king is suffering from and what treatment he is receiving for it, a senior oncologist told Daily Mail Australia that the photos appeared consistent with someone undergoing chemotherapy.
“Various cancer treatments can cause pain in the lips and mouth, which is consistent with those photos,” said the oncologist, who asked to remain anonymous.
‘But I wouldn’t want to speculate about what treatment he might receive, that’s not public knowledge.
The 75-year-old monarch appeared energetic and lively as he shook hands with fans, threw sausages on the barbecue and spoke of his admiration for Australia’s top tucker.
But despite his positive outlook, there are several signs that the king is not in his usual health. In several photos, his lips looked inflamed and red
‘What I would say is that the King should be an inspiration to all those people who unfortunately also suffer from cancer, which is almost one in two Australians.
“Good for him for making the trip and giving it a royal red hot crack.”
Another ominous sign of the King’s ill health came when his doctor was photographed carrying a large medical bag as Charles and Camilla attended a church service in North Sydney on Sunday.
The king has reportedly traveled with two of his personal physicians and a supply of his own blood, to ensure an exact match is available in the event a transfusion is needed.
The same precautions were taken when his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, traveled abroad.
Charles III also has some of the best medical teams in the city he is traveling 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 previously joked about his fingers, calling them “sausage fingers” in a letter to a friend after the birth of his first son, Prince William, in 1982.
Another ominous sign of the King’s ill health came when his doctor was photographed carrying a large medical bag as Charles and Camilla attended a church service on Sunday (pictured)
“I can’t tell you how excited and proud I am. It really does look surprisingly tasty 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 of Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, previously told MailOnline that there could be many causes for King Charles’ ‘sausage fingers’.
“Often, swollen fingers are a symptom of water retention, which can be caused by a variety of health conditions,” said Dr. Tang.
‘This condition develops as a result of inflammation and can be the result of arthritis, multiple bacterial infections or even tuberculosis.
“Other possibilities include high salt levels, allergic reactions, drug side effects, injuries and autoimmune diseases.”
The king has never confirmed the cause of his swollen fingers, which are medically known as dactylitis.
The king was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024 after routine prostate surgery.
Buckingham Palace said he did not have prostate cancer but would not reveal his actual diagnosis.
A notable feature of the king’s health that has not changed over time is the swollen appearance of his hands
Charles himself previously joked about his fingers, calling them “sausage fingers” in a letter to a friend after the birth of his first son, Prince William. He and Queen Camilla are pictured donning the tongs at a barbecue in Parramatta on Tuesday
He stopped making public appointments after starting treatment, but continued with the paperwork and his weekly one-on-one sessions with the British Prime Minister.
In May, in one of his first public appearances, he made a surprise visit to an army barracks, where he joked that he could “get out of my cage.”
The tour Down Under was in jeopardy for months as doctors worried about the grueling 24-hour journey and the severe time difference.
New Zealand was removed from the itinerary following medical advice.
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward told GB News that the king is a ‘workaholic’ who would have found it difficult to curtail his public engagements.
“The tour has been shortened, mainly on the orders of his doctors who travel with him, so that the king does not become overtired,” she said.
“He just jumped in and ran through the tour, greeting everyone and shaking thousands of hands like he used to, but this time he was actually kind of held back.”