Despite many mishaps, Charles had good health until cancer diagnosis

The king, who has been diagnosed with cancer, has generally enjoyed good health, although he has been injured during sporting pursuits.

In a statement on Monday, Buckingham Palace said the king “is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure”. He had begun a schedule of regular treatments, during which he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties, the Palace said.

Previous health issues have included contracting coronavirus and being knocked unconscious after being thrown from his horse while playing polo. He also narrowly escaped an avalanche that killed a close friend.

Concern has been expressed over the years at his “sausage fingers” amid fears they might be due to fluid buildup or other conditions. But Charles had been aware of his puffy fingers for decades. “He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine,” he wrote to a friend after the birth of his first son, William, in 1982.

In March 2020, Charles, then 71, caught Covid-19 before vaccinations were available but only had mild symptoms. He isolated at Birkhall, Aberdeenshire, away from the then Duchess of Cornwall, who tested negative, and carried on working at his desk. He lost his sense of taste and smell for a time, and later spoke of the “strange, frustrating and often distressing” experience of being without friends and relatives during lockdown.

He caught Covid for a second time in February 2022 though he was triplevaccinated.

Charles has kept active with hillwalking and gardening but has had back pain, attributed to numerous falls from horses over the years. A devotee of organic food, he launched his own food brand, Duchy Originals, in 1990, which is now run as Waitrose Duchy Organic.

In March 2019, as Charles and Camilla began an official tour to the Caribbean, they were photographed by the paparazzi relaxing on a beach in Barbados in their swimming costumes. Charles won praise for his lithe figure and his on-trend 12-year-old floral trunks.

In 2008 he had a non-cancerous growth removed from the bridge of his nose in a routine procedure and in 2003 had a hernia operation at the private King Edward VII’s hospital in

London, the hospital favoured by the royal family. He joked “hernia today, gone tomorrow” to waiting media after being discharged the next day.

Charles never travelled on royal tours without a special cushion, usually a tartan one, which he used to ease back pain. A red velvet one is always placed on the king’s chair during state banquets at Buckingham Palace.

In 2003, during an engagement at a Sikh temple in Southall, west London, he told the congregation he would need a little of their expert care as he sat on the hard floor. “I don’t think I have ever

needed an osteopath so much as I have today,” he joked. “My back is not altogether geared to sitting on the floor, so I may need some help on my way out.”

Charles has been an advocate of alternative and complementary medicines, including homeopathy, and has urged health ministers to adopt a more holistic approach to tackling health problems. He was patron of the regulatory body the General Osteopathic Council.

Charles retired after more than 40 years of playing polo in 2005, having notched up an impressive array of injuries. In 1980 he was thrown and kicked by his pony during a polo match at Windsor and needed six stitches. A two-inch crescent scar on his left cheek bore witness to the incident. On another occasion he was hit in the throat, causing him to lose his voice for 10 days.

Charles resisted pressure to give up polo after he collapsed in 1980 at the