Cancer History in British Royal Family, 8 Key Events

Many members of the British royal family have had cancer at different times of different types.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's daughter died in 1901 because of breast cancer when she was 60 years old.

King Edward VII, who ruled from 1901 to 1910, had a type of skin cancer near his nose. He got rid of it using radium treatment in 1907.

In 1971, Edward, who later became the Duke of Windsor, was diagnosed with throat cancer after he abdicated the throne in 1936.

King George VI was king from 1936 to 1952. He was diagnosed with lung cancer because he smoked heavily, as per a 2018 study.

The Queen Mother had cancer more than once when she was queen with George V, but people didn't know until after she died in 2002 at 101.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, found out she had breast cancer in June 2023. Less than a year later, in January 2024, she said she also had another type called malignant melanoma.

In February 2024, Buckingham Palace said King Charles III had cancer, which they found out a week after he went to the hospital for prostate treatment.

On March 22, Kate, the Princess of Wales, said she has cancer and is getting chemotherapy. She had surgery in January, thinking it wasn't cancer.