Originally appeared on E! Online
A royal family member has offered rare insight into King Charles III's cancer battle.
Peter Phillips, son of the King's sister Princess Anne and the eldest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, spoke about his uncle's mindset amid his road to recovery in an on-camera interview released March 24, more than a month after the monarch began treatment.
"He's in good spirits," Phillips told Sky News Australia. "I think, ultimately, he's hugely frustrated. He's frustrated that he can't get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do. But he's very pragmatic. He understands that there's a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself."
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The 46-year-old, who is visiting Australia as a patron of the charity ISPS Handa—which supports disabled athletes—continued, "But, at the same time, he is always pushing his staff and everybody and his doctors and nurses, to be able to say, 'Actually, can I do this, can I do that?' I think the overriding message would be that he's obviously very keen to get back to a former normality and he's probably frustrated that recovery is taking a little longer than probably he would want it to."
This marks the most detailed comments a royal family member has made about King Charles' health battle since Buckingham Palace announced Feb. 5 that the 75-year-old had been diagnosed with an unnamed form of cancer and had that day "commenced a schedule of regular treatments."
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On March 21, his wife Queen Camilla told well-wishers in Belfast that her husband was "doing very well" and "was very disappointed he couldn't come" with her on her trip to Northern Island.
The Palace had also said in their statement that while the king had "been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties" amid his treatments, he "will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual." Indeed, the monarch has met with various officials at the Palace over the past few weeks.
Phillips' interview with Sky News Australia was recorded before Charles' daughter-in-law Kate Middleton broke her silence about her own health journey since her abdominal surgery in January to reveal in a March 22 video that she herself had been diagnosed with cancer and had also begun treatment.
The Princess of Wales, who shares children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, with husband Prince William, added, "William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family."
In his interview, Phillips praised his cousin's wife. "She's remarkable in herself," he said. "Her and William make a fantastic team together. Their kids are great and they have the balance of public life and trying to be a parent to three young children, which is always difficult."
