King Charles marks Guy's Hospital tercentenary at cancer centre, offers rare reflection on his own treatment

On 11 May 2026 King Charles III visited Guy's Cancer Centre in London to mark the 300th anniversary of Guy's Hospital, in an engagement publicised by Buckingham Palace via royal.uk on 8 May. The King met chemotherapy patients, doctors and nurses, toured the King's College London Innovation Hub — which combines cancer research and bespoke patient treatment, including AI-assisted analysis of patient samples and a robotic-assisted surgery demonstration — and unveiled a plaque commemorating the tercentenary.

As Patron of King's College London, the King was briefed on the institution's cancer research. The visit drew attention because the monarch, who has been undergoing undisclosed cancer treatment since early 2024, spoke unusually candidly about his own experience: when patient Raymond Burgess described an unpleasant taste from chemotherapy, the King replied that it was 'an awful sort of metallic taste' that 'doesn't exactly help with eating.' Context reported by IBTimes (14 May): royal editor Tom Sykes characterised the King's treatment as an 'incredibly novel and very, very expensive combination of immunotherapy and RNA drugs,' details the Palace has not confirmed.

In December 2025 the Palace said the King had 'responded exceptionally well to treatment,' with care moving into a 'precautionary phase'; it has not disclosed the cancer type or stated that he is in remission. The visit reinforced the King's continued, scaled-back public schedule while in treatment.