Illness, like death, is society’s greatest leveller, and so the news that the King had been affected by cancer led to an outpouring of sympathy and compassion that few other circumstances might prompt. Since he came forward earlier this year to share his diagnosis, Charles – sometimes seen as a remote and inaccessible figure, especially when Prince of Wales – has acquired a universality and straightforwardness that may have been present before, but was largely concealed beneath protocol and a quick temper. Now, he has acquired the common touch.
It was this accessibility that was on full display today as he visited the Macmillan Cancer Centre at University College Hospital. Earlier it was also announced by Buckingham Palace that, appropriately enough, he has become the new patron of Cancer Research.
The open way in which Charles has dealt with the necessary revelations about his illness has done him a lot of credit
The King has been away from public duties for the past three months.
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