King Charles Says Royal Goodbye After Suffering Major Setback to His ‘Incurable’ Cancer
Kings get to do a lot of stuff that sometimes doesn’t make the news. In fact, what we’re usually hearing about the British Royal Family is the really dramatic stuff, like King Charles’ illness, his feud with Prince Harry, or possible planning details about the succession, or even the King’s funeral. We rarely get to hear as much about his day-to-day duties.
One of those has to do with transportation. The King has decided to decommission the current royal train by March 2027 to “secure best value for public money.” After the train is out of service, senior members of the royal family will rely on helicopters and scheduled trains for official travel across the UK, including between their residences. This follows the King’s efforts to cut costs and modernize the institution.
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James Chalmers, who is the Keeper of the Privy Purse, or in other words, the official responsible for royal finances, described it as “the fondest of farewells,” adding, “In moving forwards, we must not be bound by the past.” However, he added that the royal train had been “part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved.”
Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by royal train in the early 1840s. However, the train has been used less and less in the past few years, and the high cost of maintenance makes it a very obvious cut for a monarchy trying to downsize. The train is expected to go on a farewell tour before it is retired, and though no official announcement has been made, there’s a good chance the royal train could be preserved in a museum after that.
All of this comes amid reports that King Charles’ cancer is reportedly incurable, but manageable, according to writer and associate editor of the Daily Telegraph, Camilla Tominey. “The talk now is that he may die ‘with’ cancer, but not ‘of’ cancer following a rigorous treatment program,” she wrote.
However, other sources were concerned about the king because he hasn’t been responding well to treatment. ”Charles is indeed a sick man, and he does have cancer,” an insider told NewsNationNow. “He also refused chemotherapy and decided on a less invasive treatment.” And the King doesn’t seem inclined to stop his duties to rest.
One friend of the family told The Daily Beast: “Of course he should slow down, but, as anyone who knows him will tell you, he is not going to. He spent 70 years as the first in line to the throne, and he is determined to do the job as best he can for whatever time remains to him. It’s a worry for everyone, because he has made no secret of the fact that he still has cancer and is still getting treated for it, but I think he wants to raise awareness of the reality that cancer is something that a lot of people live with and make the best of.”
And his plans to continue to modernize the royal family while he can are proof of that.
