The Duke and Duchess of Clarence

30th of January 2024 - Highgrove House

The drive from York House to Highgrove had been a quiet one, Adeline and Simon both feeling a little anxious about the sudden summons to the country estate where Charles had been recovering from his surgery. 

They were not the only ones making the trip with William travelling from Adelaide Cottage to the same meeting, they all knew that whatever was to be discussed was not going to be something that none of them were prepared for. 

Camilla was at the door to greet them when they arrived, a tired smile on her face that gave nothing away about why they had been summoned so urgently to Highgrove. 

The silence was eerily and Adeline looked at Simon rather nervous knowing that this was not a good sign, the two of them were quickly lead through to the lounge where Charles was waiting for them with William. 

The eldest son of the King and his late wife, looked exactly how Adeline felt about this entire situation and shared a concerned look with his sister as she stepped forward to greet her father. 

Charles smiled warmly at Adeline, pressing a kiss to her cheek and greeting her before hugging Simon; he was relieved that they had all been able to make this trip. 

The only person missing was Catherine but that was understandable since she too was recovering and had only just been released from hospital; she would be out of action until at least Easter from the current reports. 

Camilla took a seat next to her husband, playing with her wedding ring as she thought about the situation that they currently found themselves in and she dreaded what was to come. 

"Thank you for coming," Charles said sitting back down, he rubbed his hands against the material of his trousers knowing that there was little point in beating around the bush. 

He could already see that William and Adeline were suspicious about what was going on, they were observant at the best of times; no doubt his request for them to come and see him had sparked concern. 

"I shall just get to the point. During my recent hospitalisation for the issue with my prostate, there was another issue that appeared," Charles began, Camilla reaching over to take his hand as he spoke and he offered her a small smile before returning his attention back to his children. 

"They preformed a series of diagnostic tests which have identified cancer," Charles revealed, his voice filled with emotion as he tried to keep calm and collected as he broke the news.

Cancer was not something new to the royal family, The Queen Mother had a tumour removed in 1966 which had been colon cancer and then again in 1984 she had a lump removed from her breast that had been breast cancer. 

King George VI had lung cancer, having a notable operation in 1951 that resulted in the removal of his left lung. 

His own mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had battled bone cancer in the last months of her life; even his former sister-in-law, Sarah had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and had only recently received a second diagnoses of malignant melanoma. 

There was silence at his announcement, William felt a lump forming in his throat and he looked to Adeline; this was not the news that either of them had been prepared to hear especially so soon after the loss of the late Queen. 

"They do believe they have caught it early, I begin treatment in the next few days," Charles stated trying to reassure him, it was a good sign that they had caught it early and the doctors were very hopeful that he would make a recovery because of that. 

It was a shock but Charles remained in high spirits, he knew that this was just one of those things and he had already planned an announcement to be released to bring such awareness.