a year after his coronation, a birthday darkened by the king’s cancer

King Charles is celebrating the first anniversary of his coronation this Monday, May 6. A sober birthday overshadowed by illness.

The United Kingdom marks Monday without fanfare the first anniversary of the coronation of King Charles III, who following waiting a long time to succeed his mother Elizabeth II, sees the start of his reign darkened by his cancer, diagnosed at the beginning of the year.

No lavish event is planned to celebrate this first year since the coronation of Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey.

At midday (11:00 GMT), the Royal Horse Artillery fired 41 cannon shots from Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, then the Honorable Artillery Company fired a further 62 from the Tower of London.

Buckingham Palace has not said where the 75-year-old king will celebrate his birthday.

Charles III is currently undergoing treatment for cancer which he was diagnosed with at the start of the year, nine months following his coronation, during a prostate operation.

Reuniting with Harry?

After three months without public engagement, but while continuing to exercise certain official functions, the sovereign resumed his public activities last week.

Symbolically, he first visited a specialized cancer center last Tuesday with Queen Camilla, 76 years old. He appeared relaxed and smiling, shaking many hands, and spoke with caregivers and patients.

In the days that followed, he received the Coronation Roll, the official document recounting the coronation, at Buckingham Palace. He also attended a horse show in Windsor (west London), which Queen Elizabeth II loved.

How did King Charles III, despite his cancer, resume his activities?

Buckingham Palace announced on April 26 that Charles III would resume a “certain number” of commitments, “carefully calibrated”, in “close consultation with his doctors”.

They are “very encouraged by the progress made so far and remain optimistic regarding the continued recovery of the king,” the palace said.

This week, the king must attend a Garden Party at Buckingham on Wednesday, and perhaps, according to British media, see his son Prince Harry, who lives in California but who will be in London for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, a competition for wounded soldiers and veterans.

“Personal Challenges”

For the next few weeks, the palace has only announced at this stage that the king will receive Emperor Naruhito of Japan and his wife Empress Masako in June for a state visit at the invitation of the British government.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who crowned the king last year paid tribute to him on Monday, saying he was “struck by his uninterrupted sense of duty”, despite the “personal challenges” he must go through.

In the context of this complicated start to their reign, the royal family has seen its popularity grow in the country.

According to a poll published Sunday in the tabloid The Mail on Sunday, 54% of British people have a favorable opinion of Charles III, up 4 points over a year. And 56% think that he fulfills his mission as sovereign well.

Improved popularity

Princess Kate, also suffering from cancer which she revealed at the end of March in a video message, is the most popular “royal”, with her husband Prince William, heir to the throne.

At 42, Kate hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas, aside from this brief video.

A sign of this approval, on Sunday, a demonstration by the anti-monarchist Republic movement brought together only a few dozen people on Trafalgar Square in London, despite the renewed vigor of the pro-Republican movement since the death of Elizabeth II.

“The question for the monarchy is whether this is a momentary improvement (in its popularity), due to public sympathy, or whether it can be maintained, particularly among the younger generations,” analyzes Gideon Skinner, of the polling company Ipsos.