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Privacy NoticeDespite being a generally healthy 75 year old, King Charles has had his share of health scares over the years, from being thrown off a horse to escaping an avalanche and a broken rib. Now, amid his cancer diagnosis, he hopes to increase public understanding about the condition affecting so many people worldwide, reports Mirror Online. The monarch, who was confirmed to have some form of cancer in a statement from the Palace on Monday, 5 February, has expressed gratitude towards his medical team for their swift help. He has begun regular treatments as advised by doctors and consequently is taking a break from his public duties.
King Charles III has suffered his fair share of injuries and illnesses over the years
(Image: Getty Images)
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His health issues, from contracting coronavirus at the outset of the global crisis, to falling unconscious after an unfortunate polo accident, have often made headlines. A close call with an avalanche that claimed his friend’s life was another encounter that rattled him. Over time, concerns were raised about his “sausage fingers”, feared to be the result of fluid accumulation or other conditions. The King even joked about them in a letter written to a buddy after his first son William arrived in 1982: “He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine”. Charles, who was 71 in 2020, had mild Covid-19 symptoms prior to vaccines being available. He self-isolated at his residence at Birkhall, Aberdeenshire, while the then Duchess of Cornwall, who did not have the virus, remained nearby.
He unfortunately caught Covid-19 twice
(Image: Getty Images)
Charles commented on the “strange, frustrating and often distressing” struggle of lockdown – missing loved ones and friends. In February 2022, he tested positive for Covid again, by then triple-vaccinated. The former Prince enjoys walking on hills and tending to gardens but has had to deal with back pain from old horse riding accidents. A fan of organic munchies, he started Duchy Originals, a food line now known as Waitrose Duchy Organic, in 1990. When Charles and Camilla visited the Caribbean in 2019, they were snapped frolicking in their swimming togs in Barbados.
Then Prince Charles swimming in the sea at Bondi Beach during his official tour of Australia
(Image: Tim Graham/Getty Images)
Charles was chuffed to bits with compliments on his physique and trendy floral swimming trunks. In 2008, he had a harmless growth removed from his nose; and in 2003, he was treated for a hernia at the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, popular among royals. The joking told the media “Hernia today, gone tomorrow” after being let out the following day. Charles always carried a cushion with him on royal tours to help ease his back pain. It was usually a tartan one and a red velvet cushion is always laid out on the King’s chair during state banquets at Buckingham Palace. While visiting a Sikh temple in Southall, west London, in 2003, he joked that he might need a hand from their experts as he settled down on the hard floor. “I don’t think I have ever needed an osteopath so much as I have today,” he quipped.
A red velvet cushion is always laid out on the King’s chair during state banquets at Buckingham Palace
(Image: PA)
“My back is not altogether geared to sitting on the floor, so I may need some help on my way out.” Charles hung up his polo mallet in 2005, after more than four decades and a remarkable list of injuries. In 1980, during a game at Windsor, he was thrown off and kicked by his pony, requiring six stitches. A small crescent-shaped scar on his left cheek serves as a reminder of the accident. He once took a hit to the throat while playing, which cost him his voice for 10 days. Despite collapsing at the end of a game in Florida in 1980 and needing a saline drip, Charles refused to quit the sport. In 1988, Prince Charles had a close call while skiing off-piste at Klosters on one of Europe’s most dangerous runs.
Charles escaped an avalanche that tragically took the life of his good friend
(Image: Getty Images)
He narrowly escaped an avalanche that tragically took the life of his good friend Major Hugh Lindsay, a former equerry to Queen Elizabeth II. Charles managed to jump out of the way to reach a ledge and helped save another friend, Patti Palmer-Tomkinson, by digging her out of the snow and talking to her until a helicopter arrived. He later shared his terrifying experience of the avalanche, saying he had never seen anything so scary. In 1990, he broke his right arm in a fall during a polo match and a second operation was needed three months after the fall because one of the fractures didn’t heal, causing him a lot of pain. In 1992, he had surgery to fix torn cartilage in his left knee again due to a polo injury. In 1993, he was hurt again during a game at Windsor, making an old back injury worse. He also broke a rib when he fell from his horse in a hunting accident in 1998.
The Monarch has suffered numerous injuries from his time playing polo
(Image: Getty Images)
Despite the pain, the prince insisted on trekking in the Himalayas a few weeks later during an official visit to Nepal and Bhutan. Three months later in October 1998, he was back in hospital for laser keyhole surgery on his right knee cartilage due to wear and tear from years of sport and exercise. In June 2001, Prince Charles had a bit of a tumble off his horse during a fox hunt, fracturing a small bone in his shoulder. Then, just a few months later in August, he was knocked out cold when his horse threw him during a polo match, leading to an ambulance ride to the hospital. Charles is no stranger to injuries, having strained tendons in his wrist while salmon fishing in Scotland and even hurting himself while gardening. Once, he accidentally hit his thumb with a mallet and broke his finger, nearly cutting off the tip.
King Charles has suffered several sporting injuries over the years
(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
As a child, Charles had a close call with his appendix and was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital to stop his appendix from “exploding”. On a later visit, he said: “I got here just in time before the thing exploded and was happily operated on and looked after by the nurses.” This happened back in February 1962 when he was just 13 and studying at Cheam School, near Newbury, Berkshire.Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnKing Charles IIIHealth
