What do comedian and actress Amy Schumer and the British monarch King Charles III have in common?
No, Schumer isn’t a long-lost cousin of the king, 600th in line for the throne. It is, in fact, a willingness to be open about their health.
Both King Charles and Schumer have been diagnosed with serious, though very different conditions. Instead of trying to hide these from the public, they have become open advocates of their conditions and the need to be open about their diagnoses.
For King Charles, this is a major departure from the monarchical norm. His late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, spent her reign actively not disclosing any changes in her personal health.
So much so, in fact, that we still do not have an official recording of the illness or illnesses leading up to her death in September 2022. Her death certificate said she died simply of “old age,” though there are unconfirmed rumors she was suffering from a form of blood cancer in her final years.
Her son, however, has been far more candid. Initially, the 75-year-old King was diagnosed with having an enlarged prostate (though this was not related to prostate cancer), a very common condition in men of his age.
He likely could have kept this secret (it is strange to be thinking of a monarch’s prostate) but he actively decided to talk openly about the condition, and the fact that he would be undergoing a procedure to have it corrected.
This led to plaudits from health charities and saw a major uptick in searches for enlarged prostate, as well for prostate cancer. The NHS website’s page on prostate enlargement received 11 times more visits on the day in mid-January his condition was announced than on the previous day.
The data show one person visited the site every five seconds, or 16,410 in total, according to NHS England, which runs the taxpayer-funded health service.
During the procedure on his prostate, however, the King was subsequently diagnosed with cancer. The form of cancer, or its staging, has not been revealed (though it has been deemed “treatable”), but the King again decided to tell the public about his diagnosis, and that he would be receiving treatment.
Though it has not been said to be prostate cancer, Chiara De Biase, director of support and influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, recently told British media that the charity saw a 500% increase in people coming to its website for information and support in the week following the news.
Elliot Colburn, MP, and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, also said on X (previously Twitter): “I would like to wish King Charles a speedy and healthy recovery after the upsetting news of his diagnosis. As Chair of the APPG for Cancer, I applaud His Majesty for raising awareness about a disease that affects so many.”
We’ve seen a similar response with Schumer, who was criticized on social media by some users for a recent TV appearance in which her face appeared “puffy.” She initially kicked back against the criticism and said she believed it was a result of endometriosis.
She did however go to her doctor after the comments and was subsequently diagnosed with the very rare Cushing’s Syndrome in February.
This condition is a result of too much cortisol in the body and can be serious if left untreated. The syndrome can come from benign tumors in the pituitary gland or adrenal glands and is most common in younger women. Symptoms can include a puffy face as well as weight gain in certain areas of the body.
The Pituitary Foundation in the U.K. recently told the BBC it was “encouraging to see her raising awareness of her condition.” This also comes after she revealed that she had Lyme disease back in 2020.
We’ve seen similar approaches from celebrities in recent years, including actor Christina Applegate and her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis that she made public, as well as Celine Dion’s 2022 diagnosis of “stiff person syndrome,” which can affect the muscles used to sing.