- This is an unexpected announcement: it is unusual for the royal family to release details of medical conditions to the public.
- For Queen Elizabeth II this attitude framed her response to public information about the royals, quipping “never complain, never explain”.
- But the royals’ health has, occasionally, been the subject of official news, and, more commonly, the subject of gossip.
Henry VIII’s ‘soore legge’
- Henry VIII’s (1491–1547) health was well-documented and discussed in state-papers and diplomatic dispatches of the day.
- As Henry aged, his access to fine food led to an increase of weight.
- Most of our knowledge today is gleaned from diplomatic reports sent by diplomats to their own leaders.
- Read more:
Henry VIII’s notes in prayer book written by his sixth wife reveal musings on faith, sin and his deteriorating health – new discovery
Queen Anne’s lupus
- Queen Anne (1665-1714) had 17 pregnancies, 11 of which resulted in miscarriages or stillbirths, with the remainder all dying in childhood.
- It is now believed Anne may have been afflicted with the autoimmune condition lupus.
- For Anne’s contemporaries, the name of the illness perhaps mattered less than the real political issue it presented: who would become monarch after her?
- With no heirs, there was real political fear her Catholic half-brother James Francis Edward Stuart (“The Old Pretender”) would claim the throne.
George III and mental illness
George III (1738–1820) famously suffered from bouts of mental illness, more recently been speculated to be caused by Porphyria, a hereditary blood disorder. Throughout his illness bulletins were issued by his doctors informing the public of his condition.
- His repeated bouts of illness mean his health was a constant in the media of the time, with frequent, at times twice-daily, updates during episodes.
- His illness called into question his ability to be monarch, a situation eventually resolved by the installing of his son, later George IV, as Prince Regent.
A family of haemophilia
- This also came with a deadly legacy, haemophilia, given the moniker “the royal disease”.
- Haemophilia is an inherited disorder which mostly affects males, where the blood does not clot properly.
While the royal family were careful to manage what information was publicly released about his illness, his status meant it garnered public attention. It was covered in medical journals of the time, and later in newspapers. As knowledge of the illness grew, both the public and members of the royal family were able to use it to guide decisions on marriages to limit its spread.
A new approach
- Even her death certificate failed to reveal her cause of death, other than as old age.
- After his recent prostate surgery, his office stated he wanted to inspire men to look after their prostates.
- Now, the announcement of Charles’s cancer diagnosis signals a new approach by the royals.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
