King Charles says it’s important for cancer patients to do one thing | Royal | News

Cancer is “everywhere”, King Charles said on Tuesday, as he said how important it was for patients visiting his cancer hospital to be able to “talk” about their journey. Charles, 77, who was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of 2024 and continues to receive cancer treatment, was applauded as he toured the new cancer center at York Hospital.

The King, boss of MacMillan Cancer Support, met cancer patients and staff working on the £2.4 million redevelopment of the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre, which will officially open in July. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, the King was shown the centre’s new garden, which has been created as a tranquil environment where visitors can enjoy some relaxation surrounded by nature.

There his close friend Lady Halifax greeted him with hugs and kisses. She and her husband, Lord Halifax, are making large donations to the hospital and the new centre.

Lady Halifax introduced him to Angie Lunt, from Riccall in York, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and was part of the community engagement group that developed plans for the centre.

“This is one of the most wonderful women you will ever meet,” he told her. Speaking to Mrs Lunt, the King said: “So they consulted you on all the details to make everything most effective? Well done.”

The King was joined in the garden by Colm Gough, Macmillan’s personalized cancer care leader, who planted a yellow “Macmillan rose”, which Charles dug with a shovel to cover its roots in the soil.

More than 70 local people with experience of cancer contributed to the designs of the new centre. During his visit, the King met people living with cancer for whom the center was a “lifeline” during treatment and heard about their role in shaping the new facility, including its design and the services it will offer, from layout and furnishings to color schemes and artwork, with the aim of making it a calming, welcoming space.

These included Louise Rhodes, from Hopgrove, York, who is living with stage 4 secondary breast cancer and was involved in the design and development of the centre.

After meeting the King with his mother, Diana Ellison, he talked about how he lost his father in 2024. “From cancer?” he asked her. “Yes,” he replied. “It’s everywhere,” he said. He explained what a great support the center was for him and his family. “It’s very important to be able to talk,” he told her.

As he made his way through the hospital corridors, shaking hands with staff and patients and asking people how they were doing in the heat, Charles was mobbed by well-wishers who wanted to catch a glimpse of the monarch, take photos and film him with their phones.

Hundreds of people gathered at the main reception to see it; here she met more Macmillan nurses and the charity’s fundraising staff.

After the visit, Ms Lunt said: “The center was a real lifeline during my recovery from cancer. It was crucial to my recovery by helping me manage ongoing health issues and supporting my mental health. I cannot emphasize enough how important these centers are. They offer a safe, welcoming, non-clinical space, a place where I can sit, think and accept my diagnosis before returning home.”

“Support services like this are so important for coping with cancer, both during and after treatment. We need places like this for everyone affected by cancer, now and in the future. I’m proud to use my experience to help shape something that will make such a difference to so many people in the future.”

York Hospital, part of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is the base for more than 60 Macmillan professionals, including more than 40 cancer nurse specialists and Support Workers, to provide support to thousands of people living with cancer in the region each year.

Earlier on Tuesday, the King was praised for his “innate understanding that we must be in harmony with nature” as he visited a project aimed at encouraging red squirrels by limiting the numbers of their gray cousins ​​through birth control.

Chatting to staff at the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s York Biotechnology Campus, Charles learned about the various stages of the project to develop a method of delivering oral contraceptives to gray squirrels through a feeding programme, as part of efforts to slow the species’ population growth rate and help endangered red squirrels thrive.

The king was also shown around the large pens where dozens of squirrels had been raised and kept for the project, but none of them dared to come out of their boxes in the intense heat to greet the royal visitor.

He spoke with scientists and volunteers who described the various stages of the project to develop a method of delivering oral contraceptives to gray squirrels through a feeding program, as part of efforts to slow the species’ population growth rate and help endangered red squirrels thrive.

The king was also shown around the large pens where dozens of squirrels had been raised and kept for the project, but none of them dared to come out of their boxes in the intense heat to greet the royal visitor.