King Charles gets candid about the 'terrible' parts of ageing

Fresh from his summer holiday at Balmoral, King Charles got right back to work back at the start of September as he officially opened the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in the West Midlands.

During his visit, His Majesty met with staff and patients at the 736-bed facility, and two particularly poignant interactions included the King meeting with a cancer patient at his bedside and later stopping by the elderly care wards, where he chatted with an 85-year-old woman named Jacqueline Page.

The King and Mrs Page ended up finding common ground, sharing complaints about getting older. After Mrs Page revealed she was "wearing out", His Majesty replied that he too had noticed the "terrible thing" that "the bits don’t work so well when you get past 70."

Touchingly, though, it seems that His Majesty’s memory is as sharp as ever, as he recalled that he had met Mrs Page some decades before. She recalled meeting him in Birmingham in 1978, when he had flown there via helicopter.

Charles recalled it well, reminiscing, "It was a wonderful old helicopter, I seem to remember. I used to fly it."

King Charles, who is still receiving treatment for cancer himself, also stopped by Matthew Shinda’s bedside, and Mr Shinda was left "elated" by His Majesty’s visit.

Per The Telegraph, Charles said, "I’m not too bad" when he was asked how he was coping with his own cancer treatment. Meanwhile, Matthew reportedly told the King, "I’ve got what you’ve got. Last stage. I could go today, I could go tomorrow."

Charles replied, "Half the problem is detecting it, isn't it, in time."

He added, "The great thing I think is they're getting better and better at dealing with these things. The trouble is, there's always hope down the road. I am sorry about that, it's so frustrating."

The two also shared a laugh after Mr Shinda revealed he would quite like a drink, confessing to liking his malts, and His Majesty joked, "Do they allow you a tiny dram of whisky occasionally? I knew I should have brought one. It’s supposed to be very good for the heart."

After the visit, Mr Shinda reportedly said, "I was elated. He showed concern."

While the King has kept details of his own health journey relatively private, this isn’t the first time he has spoken out about the experience of battling cancer.

In a heartfelt speech to guests at a Buckingham Palace reception for cancer charities in April 2025, King Charles shared how living with cancer had shown "the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion".

He later spoke of "the profound impact of human connection - whether in the careful explanation from a specialist nurse, the hand held by a hospice volunteer, or the shared experience in a support group".

"While every patient's journey may be different, together you are ensuring that a cancer diagnosis need never mean facing the future without hope and support."