Buckingham Palace recently shared that King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. The news of his diagnosis came as a shock to many as the 75-year-old monarch has been sticking to a strict diet and exercise routine for years. The Palace shared that Charles was diagnosed with cancer after a check-up last month revealed an unrelated, enlarged prostate that proved to be benign.
While the monarch will now step away temporarily from public-facing duties, he has lived an impressive healthy life. In a list of 70 facts released by Clarence House in 2018 to mark the then-Prince Charles’ 70th birthday, it was revealed that he restricts himself to only two meals a day, The Independent revealed.
Fact number 20 listed, “The Prince does not eat lunch.”
Gordon Rayner, former royal correspondent at The Telegraph, had earlier said that King Charles believes lunch is a “luxury” that interferes with his busy schedule.
The British monarch’s former press secretary Julian Payne told the Independent: “The King doesn’t eat lunch; so, an early lesson I learnt when out on the road with him was to have a big breakfast or bring a few snack bars with you to keep you going. The working day is pretty relentless. Beginning with the radio news headlines and a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and seeds with tea.”
King Charles reportedly favours homemade bread crafted from nutrient-rich flours like rye and spelt, complemented by eggs, side salads, and coddled eggs-his preferred choice cooked for a brief two to three minutes, mashed into a mayonnaise-like texture. Delicacies like wild mushrooms and plums from his Highgrove gardens, along with salmon, cheese, and biscuits, rank among his favourites.
The monarch observes two meat and fish-free days weekly, adding a dairy-free day in the mix, as revealed in a 2021 BBC interview. His commitment to intermittent veganism is environmentally motivated, focusing on avoiding factory-farmed meat. Buckingham Palace even sought a live-in vegan chef during the month of Charles’s coronation. His dedication extends to a passion for organic produce, as shared by former royal chefs Darren McGrady and Carolyn Robb with Delish in May 2023.
Mr McGrady said Charles focused on organic produce “before it was even invented”, with Ms Robb echoing that the monarch’s farm was one of the first to be organically certified in all of the UK.
Apart from his strict diet, he also sticks to a rigid exercise routine.
The Telegraph reported in 2020 that Charles completes the Royal Canadian Air Force’s five basic exercises, referred to as the 5XB plan, twice a day.
The regimen was designed for pilots who need to be able to exercise without a gym.
The royal does an 11-minute workout which involves two minutes of stretches, one minute of sit-ups, one minute of back and leg raises, one minute of push-ups and six minutes of running on the spot while doing 10 eagle jumps every 75 steps.
In Prince Harry’s explosive memoir, he mentioned that King Charles regularly performed half-naked headstands to manage his chronic pain from old polo injuries.
Queen Camilla also revealed that the King is an avid walker. She described her husband in 2020, when he was in his early 70s, as “probably the fittest man of his age I know”.
“He’ll walk and walk and walk,” she said. “He’s like a mountain goat. He leaves everybody miles behind.”
