“I’m sorry, but this portrait looks like he’s in hell,” one person posted in comments under artist Jonathan Yeo’s and the royal family’s joint Instagram post revealing and explaining the image.

“Without sounding rude this is the worst royal portrait I’ve ever seen,” another added.

“It looks like he’s bathing in blood,” a third concluded.

The painting, which stands at an impressive 6½ by 8½ feet, was commissioned three years ago by the Worshipful Company of Drapers, a medieval guild of wool and cloth merchants that now focuses on philanthropy. The piece will hang at the gallery in Drapers’ Hall in downtown London, Yeo wrote.

King Charles sat for four sessions with the artist, a trustee at the National Portrait Gallery who has painted Queen Camilla when she was duchess of Cornwall as well as Charles’ father, the late Prince Philip, albeit in much more flattering tones. Charles had a creative say in the project, suggesting the artist include the butterfly landing on his shoulder, doing double duty as a symbol of his commitment to the environment and to show his transformation as he ascended to the throne.

“When I started this project, His Majesty The King was still His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, and much like the butterfly I’ve painted hovering over his shoulder, this portrait has evolved as the subject’s role in our public life has transformed,” Yeo wrote.

“I do my best to capture the life experiences and humanity etched into any individual sitter’s face, and I hope that is what I have achieved in this portrait. To try and capture that for His Majesty The King, who occupies such a unique role, was both a tremendous professional challenge, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed and am immensely grateful for.”

Despite his involvement in the project, King Charles was “initially surprised by the strong color,” the artist told the BBC, and TikTok royals commentator @matta_of_fact noted that the king appeared to jump a bit when he pulled the cloth away to reveal the painting.

The online opinions didn’t stop at hellfire, however. Allusions to the royal family’s bloody colonial past, Charles and Camilla’s infamous tampon scandal and the family’s current woes, including the king’s recent cancer diagnosis, ran rampant.

But not everyone seemed bothered. Queen Camilla took one look at the painting, the BBC reported, and said, “Yes, you’ve got him.”

The post King Charles’ new portrait elicits interesting reactions: ‘Looks like he’s bathing in blood’ appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The Princess of Wales says she is in the early stages of treatment after a cancer diagnosis.

In a video statement, Catherine says it was a “huge shock” after an “incredibly tough couple of months”.

But she sent a positive message, saying: “I am well and getting stronger every day.”

Details of the cancer have not been disclosed, but Kensington Palace says it is confident the princess will make a full recovery.

The video statement from Catherine explains that when she had abdominal surgery in January, it was not known that there was any cancer.

“However tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” said the princess.

The chemotherapy treatment began in late February. The palace says it will not be sharing any further private medical information, including the type of cancer.

The princess, 42, said she was thinking of all those who have been affected by cancer, adding: “For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.”

Catherine said recovery from her surgery in January, for a condition which has not been revealed, had taken time and the priority was now reassuring her family.

“William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”

The princess added: “It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.”

She said the family now needs “some time, space and privacy”.

The King and Queen had been informed of the news about the princess’s health prior to Friday’s announcement – and King Charles himself has also been undergoing treatment for cancer.

King Charles and Catherine were briefly treated at the London Clinic private hospital at the same time – Catherine had her abdominal surgery there and the King was admitted for a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King was “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did”.

After their time in hospital together, he has “remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks”.

Prince Harry and Meghan sent a message saying: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”

Catherine and Prince William are now not expected to appear with the Royal Family on Easter Sunday, and there won’t be any early return to official duties for the princess.

Kensington Palace also said Prince William’s sudden absence from a memorial service on 27 February was because of the discovery of Catherine’s cancer diagnosis.

The couple have faced intense public speculation and a social media frenzy about her health, since her operation in January. She has not attended any official events since Christmas.

In her video statement, she spoke about the support from her family: “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too.

“As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.”

Kensington Palace said the video of the princess was filmed on Wednesday by BBC Studios, the production arm of the BBC.

In a statement, BBC News said: “Along with other media, BBC News was briefed by Kensington Palace on the announcement this afternoon.”

There have been calls for privacy from the palace after weeks of speculation and conspiracy theories about the royal couple.

This had intensified after the withdrawal by photo agencies of a photograph of the princess for Mother’s Day, on 10 March, because of concerns over digital alterations, for which the princess subsequently apologised.

There were also social media theories over video footage showing Prince William and Catherine shopping in Windsor earlier this week.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday Catherine had shown “tremendous bravery” with her statement, wishing her a “speedy recovery”.

He said: “In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media.

“When it comes to matters of health, like everyone else, she must be afforded the privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with the Royal Family, adding he was “heartened” by Catherine’s “optimistic tone and her message of faith and hope”.

He said: “Any cancer diagnosis is shocking. But I can only imagine the added stress of receiving that news amid the lurid speculation we’ve seen in recent weeks.”

William and Catherine are “entitled to privacy and, like any parents, will have waited to choose the right moment to tell their children”.

Professor Pat Price, an oncologist and founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign, praised the princess for speaking out “so openly and frankly”.

“As was the case with the King’s diagnosis, her doing so will no doubt give many more people that vital prompt to get themselves checked and give others affected by cancer more confidence to speak about their own experience.

“This announcement is a stark and shocking reminder that cancer is no respecter of age or social status.”

The post Kate, Princess of Wales: I am having cancer treatment appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“Never complain, never explain” has been the British royal family’s mantra for over a century — a useful motto that has endured through all manner of crises. And this week again it has shown its durability, following news that King Charles III has begun treatment for cancer.

The statement from Buckingham Palace on Monday did not identify which type, or what treatment the 75-year-old king was having, saying only that he had gone public to “prevent speculation” about his health, and that he remains “wholly positive” about his prognosis. That statement would have seemed ordinary at any other time.

But the cancer was found during treatment for the king’s enlarged prostate a couple of weeks ago — an issue on which he was unusually open and duly received great praise. Having vowed to modernize the monarchy, this openness seemed proof of his commitment: the kind of transparency on a sensitive matter that no previous royal figurehead had come close to.

With this diagnosis, the king may learn the limits of the future he envisioned. No public figure should be expected to flaunt their ills, but he has already received some positive feedback on social media and elsewhere about sharing his cancer diagnosis. Still, Buckingham Palace’s statement was opaque, lacking in specifics about his illness that are likely to become more important in the coming months. It appeared to signal his era of openness rapidly contracting, highlighting the awkward public relations space in which the monarchy resides.

In spite of 1,200 years of monarchy rule, on health transparency there is little for the king to crib from. A biography released in 2022 alleged that Queen Elizabeth II had been battling myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, in the months leading up to her death — a diagnosis that, if true, was not made public. An earlier biography, published in 2009, revealed that she had been treated for cancer twice: having a tumor removed from her colon when she was 66 (officially described as abdominal surgery to remove a partial obstruction), and in 1984 having breast cancer surgery (when she was said to be in hospital for “tests”).

The queen’s silence was learned behavior. Her father, King George VI, had his lung removed in 1951 in a procedure designed to correct “structural abnormalities,” according to officials, which was in fact a carcinoma. He died suddenly five months later from coronary thrombosis, though speculation has since followed that the cause was complications from his cancer spreading. King Charles seemed, at least a fortnight back, to be doing things differently.

Around the time of his coronation in May last year, there was much talk of bringing the monarchy in line with current mores, of “slimming down” the number of Windsors afforded vast privileges of birth and demonstrating soft power in less grand a manner than before. State visits have taken the most senior royals to the U.S. and France, Kenya, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and beyond in recent months, helping to maintain a continuous global presence.

The recent health scares for the king and for Catherine, the Princess of Wales, who underwent abdominal surgery last month (around the same time as the king’s prostate treatment), have been cause for concern — yet have helped their popularity, per new polling, seeing them rise three percentage points apiece since May. Publicizing common health issues, it would appear, makes the royals seem more of the people, or at least better liked. Yet the king’s latest update introduces more uncertainty.

A sustained pause on royal duties, as the king is understandably taking through treatment, will certainly not be what he wanted his first full year of rule to look like. An absent figurehead, even through no fault of his own, is not what the crown in the middle of an identity crisis needs.

The more Britain goes on turning without its state head — which it of course will — the harder it will be to prove the palace’s importance within it. Other royals, such as Queen Camilla, will be taking on more duties in the interim, but a new fragility has been exposed.

Slimming down the monarchy was an idea presumably designed when there were royals to expend — but for now, without the king or the Princess of Wales (or Prince Harry), retaining their place in public life will become harder. British monarchs have shown amazing resilience to scandal and bad fortune over the centuries. But if transparency is to be part of their future, whether that can hold in the face of poor health is, for once, beyond their control.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post What King Charles’ cancer diagnosis means for the modern monarchy appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.