King Charles Reportedly Cancels Two International Trips Amid Fears He’s “At Risk” If He Doesn’t Slow Down

King Charles is already back to public duty just days after a brief hospitalization due to side effects from his ongoing cancer treatment.

After the King’s brief hospitalization last Thursday, March 27, he was forced to cancel a planned visit to Birmingham the next day—though he continued working from home. Just four days after the King, 76, was hospitalized, he was back to public duty on Monday, March 31, taking part in his “usual working week” (according to People) ahead of heading off to Italy for a royal tour alongside Queen Camilla in one week’s time.

To his credit, People reported that the monarch did have a “restful” weekend at his country home, Highgrove House, but Charles’ schedule remains unchanged this week, and he and Camilla will be abroad beginning April 7 as they undertake their latest royal tour. While there, the couple will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 9.

Please fill out this field Hello! reported that Charles is “at risk” if he doesn’t slow down his fast-paced schedule. Camilla has commented on her husband’s workaholic nature in the past, saying he “won’t slow down and won’t do what is told,” and has also previously said that Charles is “not one for chilling.” Charles’ younger son Prince Harry has said before that his father would sometimes fall asleep at his desk and wake up with a piece of paper stuck to his face, per Hello!, and Lady Frederick Windsor, a second cousin to the King, said, “He works all day long, has a quick supper, and then disappears until about 4 a.m. to write letters. He cares about so many things, and he comes up with brilliant solutions.”

Indeed, even after being hospitalized at The London Clinic Thursday—where Charles was originally treated for a benign enlarged prostate in January 2024, a treatment from which cancer was later detected—when Charles made it home to Clarence House later that day, he was “said to be working on state papers and making calls from his study on Thursday evening,” Hello! reported, which added that “while the King’s work ethic is admirable, it’s not ideal for his recovery.”

“Societal expectations can cause us to become workaholics, with high achievers and public figures conditioned to equate their value with productivity, making it difficult to prioritize rest, even when faced with health concerns,” said Dr. Mohammed Enayat, who is the founder of the longevity clinic Hum2n. “Research has shown that those who struggle to detach from work experience higher levels of anxiety and sleep disturbances, both of which can negatively impact long term health.”

Though his trip to Italy with Camilla is set to go on, GB News and The Sun reported that that King and Queen have canceled a visit to a luxury spa resort in Africa amid Charles’ cancer treatment, and that Charles has also pulled out of an annual trip to Romania, where he was due to hike in the countryside this spring.

“He adores Romania and looks forward to visiting every year, but it would have involved just too much walking and he can’t face it right now,” a source told The Sun.

Following Charles’ prostate procedure in January 2024, it was announced on February 5 of last year that the King had cancer, though the type and stage of which has never been publicly disclosed. (The palace did reveal last year that the King does not have prostate cancer.) The King was away from public duty until late April, and since then has kept a packed schedule, including a two-stop royal tour of Australia and Samoa last October alongside Camilla. In December, it was announced that his treatment would continue into the new year, and last Thursday’s visit to the hospital was a “minor bump in the road,” palace officials said.

Of the Queen, royal biographer Katie Nicholl told OK!, “There is clearly a rod of steel that runs through her. She is so strong, so resilient.” Nicholl added that Camilla “also has a great sense of herself and an ability to overcome all sorts of adversity. Those are the qualities you really see in her when the going gets tough—and it did get tough last year.”

Adding that Camilla has “strength and resilience” and is “a remarkably positive person,” Nicholl said of Camilla was not only having to care for her husband, “but she also had to stand in for him and carry out engagements on his behalf. And she had to reassure the public that their King was okay.”

“If you look back at her time traveling up and down the country, she was always smiling for the crowds, always having a word of encouragement about the King,” Nicholl continued. “She never let the mask slip. The laughter is spontaneous, the smile is genuine. I think she's incredibly authentic.”