King Charles has long been one of the biggest champions of British meat and even tried to encourage a revival of mutton.
Yet he is now considering cutting back on red meat after his treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.
There are claims that red meat may be linked to the disease.
The King’s stepson, Tom Parker Bowles, says his mother, Queen Camilla, had already cut down the amount of beef, lamb and pork that she eats.
‘Yes, I eat meat, but I go easy on the red meat – as does my mother,’ says Parker Bowles, a food writer and Mail on Sunday columnist.
‘And the King, after what he’s been through recently, is looking again at what, and when, he eats.’
Parker Bowles, 49, in an interview with Saga magazine, adds: ‘I’m no nutritionist, but I know that food is part of a body’s ‘medicine’. It knows when it’s having the right stuff.’
Buckingham Palace has never disclosed what form of cancer the King was suffering from. He underwent a hospital procedure for an enlarged prostate in January, during which ‘a separate issue of concern was noted’.
Subsequent tests identified a form of cancer, for which he has since been undergoing treatment.
King Charles has long been one of the biggest champions of British meat and even tried to encourage a revival of mutton. Pictured: King Charles cuts a steak of Scottish Beef at a butchery display by Boxley’s of Wombourne in 2000
A spokesman said in February that he had chosen to share his diagnosis ‘to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer’.
Three years ago, the King, a renowned environmental campaigner, urged people to eat less meat and dairy products.
However, that was as a way of cutting global carbon emissions and tackling the climate crisis, and nothing to do with dietary concerns.
Guidance from Cancer Research UK states that there is a direct correlation between processed meat and the disease, but says the link between red meat and cancer is unproven.
‘Eating lots of processed meat can increase the risk of bowel cancer,’ it says. ‘We know for definite that processed meat is a cause of cancer.
‘We are as sure of this link as we are for other proven causes of cancer, like tobacco and alcohol.
King Charles is now considering cutting back on red meat after his treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. Pictured: King Charles and Queen Camilla help cook sausages during a community barbeque at Parramatta Park in Sydney, October 22, 2024
‘Red meat is classed as a probable cause of cancer. This means there is lots of good evidence of a link between eating red meat and some types of cancer, but we need a few more of the best quality studies to be certain.’
Parker Bowles adds in the interview that the Queen is a keen viewer of Jeremy Clarkson’s Prime Video programme Clarkson’s Farm.
‘Mum’s a big fan of Clarkson’s Farm, which is bringing British farming back into the spotlight,’ he says.
‘It’s a tough, 24-hour, thankless job, that’s often profitless. How bizarre it’s taken someone like Jeremy Clarkson to point out things must change.’
Frank advice for Freud
He was acclaimed as one of the 20th century’s greatest painters, but even Lucian Freud felt the need for approval from a fellow artist.
His novelist daughter Esther Freud reveals that her father sought the opinion of the celebrated German artist Frank Auerbach, who died earlier this month aged 93.
Lucian Freud is pictured. His novelist daughter Esther Freud reveals that her father sought the opinion of the celebrated German artist Frank Auerbach, who died earlier this month aged 93
Auerbach, who fled Nazi Germany for Britain as a child, often spent nights out with Freud in Soho during the 1950s.
‘My father admired him hugely and sought his approval for every finished work,’ Esther says.
Speaking about his death, she adds: ‘It feels like the end of an era – and what an era it was.’
How a screen kiss from Lily bewitched Ade
Lily James once pictured canoodling in Rome with married star Dominic West, seems to have a bewitching effect on ageing actors.
Adrian Edmondson, 67, who played Lily’s father in the BBC’s 2016 adaptation of War And Peace is still dining out on the kiss he received from the actress, 35.
Lily James (pictured) seems to have a bewitching effect on ageing actors
Adrian Edmondson, 67 (pictured), who played Lily’s father in the BBC’s 2016 adaptation of War And Peace is still dining out on the kiss he received from the actress, 35
‘My character died and had a big funeral,’ he explains. ‘I was in this big Russian Orthodox church, and they were waving the incense around and I was lying there in an open casket.
‘Lily James came over and blubbed all over me and kissed me.’ Edmondson adds: ‘Actually that was quite nice. I think I’ll have that again.’
Judge’s Podcast revelation
High Court judge Sir Nicholas Mostyn, who was divorce barrister to Sir Paul McCartney and Princess Diana, recalls taking his dachshund to work.
High Court judge Sir Nicholas Mostyn, who was divorce barrister to Sir Paul McCartney and Princess Diana, recalls taking his dachshund to work. Pictured: Princess Diana
Speaking on the Movers And Shakers podcast, Mostyn says: ‘The courtroom was packed. Everybody was standing up and Bilbo started barking. I said, “Sit!” and everybody sat down.’
Jude Law’s therapy tip
Did Jude Law marry Phillipa Coan to save paying a therapist?
‘Phil’s a psychologist,’ explains The Talented Mr Ripley star, 51.
Pictured: Jude Law and his wife Phillipa Coan who is a psychologist
‘So we enjoy a very healthy relationship where we talk a lot about how we feel, our relationships with friends, with our families… she has a wonderful perspective on all of that.
‘I think that one should, in middle age, start to reflect: what are the patterns I’ve created?’
The role that got away from Esther’s girl
That’s life, I suppose. Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter has revealed she wanted to play her mother in One Life, a film about ‘British Schindler’ Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia before the Second World War.
Samantha Spiro plays Esther Rantzen in One Life; a 2023 biographical drama based on the true story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton
Esther Rantzen with her daughter Rebecca Wilcox after she made a Dame by the Princess Royal
TV presenter Rebecca Wilcox says: ‘I auditioned to play my mum and I didn’t get the part. I must have been dreadful.’
The role of Rantzen, who surprised Winton on live television with the then adult children he saved, was won by Samantha Spiro.
Wilcox adds: ‘A fabulously talented actress got the part. And I’m not at all bitter.’
Lord Snape’s fiery tongue
The House of Lords is usually a place of courtly manners, but things became tetchy during a railways debate.
Former Labour MP Lord Snape (pictured) turned red in the face when two younger Conservatives got under his skin
Former Labour MP Lord Snape, 82, turned red in the face when two younger Conservatives got under his skin.
Snape accused Lord Moylan, 68, of spouting ‘absolute nonsense’ and of being ‘specious and inaccurate – he keeps repeating the same tedious stuff’.
The old class warrior also jeered that a 10pm debate would be ‘past the bedtime’ of Lord Gascoigne. By comparison to some of the blunt old tuskers of the Lords, at 41 years old, Gascoigne is a mere nipper.
