King Charles wearing a blue military uniform.

It’s been 18 months since Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer. Although The King has never disclosed exactly what type of cancer he’s fighting, the 76-year-old monarch has kept up a busy schedule of public appearances—aside from being briefly hospitalized due to some treatment side effects. As the Royal Family returns to duties after their summer break at Balmoral, The King’s former butler, Grant Harrold, has remarked on how Buckingham Palace has handled a tumultuous period.

Harrold—whose memoir, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, launched in the U.K. last week—opened up to GB News at his recent book release party in London. “It’s good that they’ve been so open about it,” the former butler said of The King’s cancer battle. “That’s really unusual.”

“William is stepping up, and Kate and Camilla are stepping up, which is good,” he added. “William stepping up is important because one day that will be his role.” Harrold compared the situation to Queen Elizabeth and her father, King George VI, who died of cancer in 1952.

King Charles is seen during a September 3 visit to Birmingham. (Image credit: Getty Images)
Prince William is embracing a statesman role as he prepares for the throne. (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service

The late Queen “had the opportunity to stand in for him on many occasions and develop the role, so she knew what was expected,” Harrold said, pointing out that it was integral to the monarchy that William had the same type of learning opportunities with his father.

“It’s important that William does the same because what you don’t want, God forbid, is that something happens to the King, and William’s going, ‘What do I do?’ So it is good that he’s getting the experience,” Harrold continued.

The Prince of Wales has stepped in for The King a number of times in the past year, taking on a more statesman-like role as he represented the Royal Family alongside world leaders during the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and during the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican. And in June, Prince William delivered an impassioned speech about protecting oceans during the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco—a message his environmentally conscious father surely approved.