Queen Camilla is opening up on the difficulty of keeping royal secrets.
In late January 2024, just days after King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer, the queen carried out an official engagement at a London cancer support center run by the charity Maggie's.
Buckingham Palace had not yet taken the step of announcing the monarch's diagnosis to the world and so the queen was forced to keep quiet. She carried out her royal duties without saying a word about it.
The official announcement came a week later on Feb. 5.
"Nobody could say anything at the time, that was quite difficult," Camilla said in a new video released Aug. 18 to mark the charity's 30th anniversary. The eight-minute documentary was made by Buckingham Palace in conjunction with
the charity.
"I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn't the time to say," she said.
"I was just longing to let it out, but obviously I couldn't," the 79-year-old queen told the chief executive of Maggie's, Dame Laura Lee.
It is not publicly known what type of cancer the king, 77, has. He is still receiving treatment. In a rare health update in December, Charles said his treatment schedule would be reduced in 2026, hailing early diagnosis and medical treatment.
"This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years," the king said.
Buckingham Palace said in a separate statement in December that the king had "responded exceptionally well to treatment," and that his doctors are advising his treatment be downgraded to a "precautionary phase."
Charles, whom Camilla referred to in the short video as her "poor husband," continues to carry out his exhaustive list of official engagements, which is his way of coping, the queen said.
"Nothing stopped him. He just said, 'This is my way. I'm going to cope with it,'" she said.
The king returned to his public-facing engagements in April 2024.
At Maggie's cancer centers people with the disease are "uplifted," Camilla said, saying that those visiting the centers can find laughter, friendship, emotional support and "a good cup of tea" as they face their diagnosis.
Camilla became president of Maggie's in November 2008 and is working with the charity to create more centers across the United Kingdom.
It's been a busy few months for the king and queen who, in July, were reunited with Prince Harry and his family for the first time in four years. The king and queen hosted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, along with their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, on Friday, July 10, amid a deep and ongoing royal family rift.
The meeting was largely interpreted as a step towards reconciliation between the monarch and his youngest son.
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Queen Camilla opens up on keeping King Charles cancer diagnosis secret
