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Camilla says King Charles “doing extremely well” after cancer diagnosis, but what is her role?
London — Queen Camilla said Thursday evening that King Charles III was “doing extremely well under the circumstances,” several days after Buckingham Palace revealed that the monarch had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer and was undergoing treatment.
Speaking at a concert celebrating the work of local charities in England’s Salisbury Cathedral, Camilla said Charles was “very touched by all of the letters and messages the public have been sending from everywhere,” and that he found them “very cheering.”
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Charles was diagnosed with cancer while he was undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate last month. Buckingham Palace said he would step back from his public duties during his treatments, but it has not said how long they will take.
Will Camilla fill in for Charles?
Charles will continue to carry out his behind-the-scenes state duties, such as reviewing and signing official papers. It is only his public appearances that he’ll be scaling back on while he undergoes cancer treatment.
Though Camilla has the title of queen, she is a “Queen Consort” not a “Queen Regnant” like Charles’ late mother Queen Elizabeth II. That means Camilla is not in the royal line of succession and cannot fill in for Charles, the U.K.’s official head of state, in his public engagements as such.
“It’s rather like if [President] Biden was ill, Jill wouldn’t be giving out the Congressional Medal of Honor,” former BBC royal correspondent and historian Wesley Kerr told CBS News. “Camilla, although she’s the queen, she’s not going to do any of the head of state stuff. Filling in for the head of state stuff… that would be William. William is, as it were, the vice president.”
Will Camilla’s schedule change during Charles’ treatment?
Camilla’s schedule of events is not announced ahead of time for security reasons, so the public won’t know if she has changed any of her plans due to her husband’s cancer diagnosis.
“She doesn’t have the heaviest program, so a lot of her engagements would have been with him. If there is a reception at Buckingham Palace or something, she’s helping to host the reception. So many of those will fall from the diary” due to the king’s absence from his public duties, Kerr told CBS News.
But he said many of Camilla’s engagements, about one per day, have to do with charities or causes that she supports personally, and she will most likely keep those booked.
“I’d have thought she’ll end up probably doing about the same number of engagements this year as last year,” Kerr said, adding that if there is a particularly grueling period of cancer treatment for Charles, “they would probably keep her schedule free so, at the very least, in the evening she was available to see him.”
What happens to Camilla when Charles dies?
When King Charles dies, Prince William immediately becomes the king, and his wife Kate, who’s had her own recent health issues, becomes the queen. Camilla, if she outlives her husband, would still be known as Queen Camilla, “but in effect she would be the Dowager Queen,” Kerr told CBS News.
Charles and Camilla do not currently live at Buckingham Palace, which is undergoing extensive renovations, but at nearby royal residence in London called Clarence House. Kerr said it was likely that Camilla would maintain at least temporary residence there in the event of her husband’s death.
The queen, Kerr notes, “has her own house in Gloucestershire anyway, a country house called Ray Mill, which is her personal property, which she owned before she married Charles because she’s independently quite well-off, and I suspect that she would have a London residence at Clarence House and she would have a limited program of engagements.”
What do Brits think of Camilla?
“Anybody that meets Camilla likes her, to be honest,” Kerr told CBS News. “She’s not at all grand, and everybody can see that [Charles] has changed since they got married — that he is much more relaxed when they’re doing engagements together.”
Kerr said Charles and Camilla are “a great love match, really,” and he believes the British public have seen that.
“She visited him in the hospital — he was in for three days, and she visited like four times,” Kerr said. “That’s a lot, really, even for some normal people.”
Kerr said that while Camilla may have been unpopular in the past, given her very public part in the collapse of Charles’ first marriage to Princess Diana, that seems to have changed.
“People think, ‘Well, that’s rather sweet. Whatever went wrong in the past, they’re obviously very happy together.'”
Dublin’s Grafton Street was mobbed last month when word spread that Coldplay was coming to shoot the video for their new single, “We Pray.”
“I was a little nervous for you there in the beginning,” said Mason.
“Yeah, but you have to just trust in the goodness of people – and the proficiency of the police!” laughed Chris Martin.
Martin was joined by collaborators Burna Boy, Tini, Elyanna and Little Simz. “The five of us actually had never actually played the song in the same place before,” said Martin. “So, our first time doing it was on the street in the middle of all those people.”
Coldplay was in Dublin for four sold-out nights at Croke Park, on their “Music of the Spheres” world tour. With more than 10 million tickets sold, and box office of over $1 billion, Billboard has crowned it “the biggest rock tour of all time.”
Mason asked drummer Will Champion, “You guys are in the middle of literally a record-breaking tour. Does it feel like that to you?”
“Sometimes it’s hard to see the woods for the trees,” Champion replied. “We’re aware that we’re having such a great time. We’re really enjoying ourselves.”
“It definitely was extremely loud last night,” said bassist Guy Berryman.
Champion, Berryman, Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland haven’t always felt the love, especially in the early years. But critics, who once asked “Why does everyone hate Coldplay?” are now calling them “the 21st century’s defining band.”
“It seems like you’ve kind of been fully embraced even by the music critics,” said Mason.
“Well, you’re very sweet. I mean, that’s just not true!” laughed Martin.
“I don’t think you’re ever fully embraced,” said Buckland.
“Also, we are really not a rock band,” said Martin. “So, when we’re judged by those parameters, we’re always gonna come up short. One thing I’d say that we’ve become more comfortable with is just being ourselves.”
Their catalog of hits stretches across a quarter of a century. Martin said, “The truth of it is, some songs arrive fully formed, basically – not Jonny’s parts or Will’s or Guy’s parts, but my part. And those are the rarest, but they’re always the best, the ones that I had least to do with.”
“But sometimes they’re the hardest to produce, because you don’t want to ruin them!” laughed Buckland.
Martin says he can feel that right away: “Definitely, yeah. The songs of ours that have connected with the most people, they connected with me first. I was like, ‘Oh, this is really good!’ ‘Yellow,’ ‘Viva La Vida,’ ‘Fix You,’ ‘Sky Full of Stars.’ They just land.”
“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay:
“So, in a strange way, you’re listening to it, you’re the first person to listen to it; that’s what it feels like,” said Martin. “With the song ‘We Pray,’ we were in Taiwan on tour about ten months ago. I think it was after a show and I woke up in the middle of the night, this song was just in my head called ‘We Pray.’ And it said, ‘You have to get outta bed and do this now.'”
Coldplay performed “We Pray” with their collaborators on stage for the first time in Dublin. “To have heard a song in the middle of the night in Taiwan and then ten months later it’s on stage in Dublin? I mean, that’s in itself an amazing journey,” Martin said.
Martin started writing songs at a young age: “The first one arrived when I was about 11,” he said.
Martin is always writing, even while on the road. Every morning, he sits down to write freeform – whatever he’s thinking about. “I do that as a way of staying sane!” he laughed. “For 12 minutes in the mornings, I write anything that’s in my head, and it’s often very terrible and very depressed or very anxious, or all of the stuff that you don’t really want anyone else to hear, but you need to release. So, I do that for 12 minutes, and then I burn it.”
“You literally light it on fire?” asked Mason.
“Yeah, or tear it up and flush it away. And it just kind of gets rid of so much nonsense,” Martin said. “Definitely helps in a band, too. Because in the old days we would have a lot more tension and a lot more volatility. But that’s calmed down a lot.”
Buckland was asked about the incredible sense of community at their concerts. “I think this is the point where we are most happy,” he said. “I think we got to that point by being in a band for 25 years and then finally it sort of all clicking into place.”
“Is that just a process of time?” asked Mason.
“Well, I think a process of time and hard work,” said Martin. “We’ve worked quite hard on how we communicate with each other and giving each other space. We tour a lot slower now. We only do about 65 shows a year, which isn’t that many.”
Coldplay’s new record, “Moon Music,” is the band’s tenth studio album.
Martin has said the band would release its last album in 2025. “It was right and it was wrong, like most things I say,” Martin explained. “We are only going to do 12 proper Coldplay albums, but we’re a little bit behind. Not too far behind!”
Buckland explained, “We’re asking for an extension!”
So, why 12 albums? “That’s just what it’s supposed to be,” Martin replied. “I don’t think anyone needs more than that from us. The Beatles did 12.”
Mason asked, “Do you guys have other things you want to do? Is that part of this?”
“Not at all. We’d like to keep playing live,” said Martin.
“So, that goes on?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah – that gets better and better,” Martin said.
“Don’t wanna stop Coldplay,” said Buckland.
You can’t stop Coldplay. Chris Martin says he has to keep sprinting across stadiums.
Why does he have to? “I think it’s like asking an apple tree why does it make apples?” Martin replied. “That’s ’cause that’s what I was made to do. And also, I’m really happy doing it.”
Coldplay performs “feelslikeimfallinginlove” at Glastonbury 2024:
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Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: Mike Levine.
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On Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter turns 100 years old. Among those wishing him well is a man who understands the trials of life in the Oval Office, our current President, Joe Biden:
Mr. President, on behalf of the entire Biden family, and the American people, Happy 100th Birthday!
Mr. President, you’ve always been a moral force for our nation and the world. I recognized that as a young senator. That’s why I supported you so early. You’re a voice of courage, conviction, compassion, and most of all, a beloved friend of Jill and me and our family.
We know this is the first birthday without Rosalynn. It’s bittersweet, but we also know she’s always with you. She’s in your heart; she’ll never go away. She may be gone, but she’s always going to be with you. She’s always there, and I know you know that.
Your hopeful vision of our country, your commitment to a better world, and your unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continues to be a guiding light for all of us.
You know, you’re one of the most influential statesmen in our history. Even after you left office, the moral clarity you showed throughout your career showed through again in your commitment through the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity – resolving conflicts, advancing democracy, preventing disease, and so much more. It’s transforming the lives of people not only at home but around the world.
Put simply, Mr. President, I admire you so darn much.
Jill and I send to you and your incredible family our love. May God continue to bless you, Mr. President. You’ve been a good friend.
Gallery: President Jimmy Carter
Gallery: Carter before the White House
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Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Steven Tyler.
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