When Queen Camilla opened the new Maggie's Royal Free cancer support centre in London in January 2024, few knew or understood her private anguish.

Just five days later, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles had himself been diagnosed with the disease.

It was news that Her Majesty kept to herself even while speaking to other patients and families coming to terms with their own life-changing situations.

Now, for the first time, Her Majesty has spoken about her emotions during that very public, but also deeply personal, official engagement to mark the charity's 30th anniversary and to publicise its vital work in supporting all those affected by cancer.

And she says that while she has always been a huge supporter of Maggie's mission to support patients and their families during and after cancer, she admits she approached the engagement with very different feelings now the disease had 'come home to roost' with 'my poor husband', even though she had been sworn to secrecy about his condition.

'I remember coming to see a Maggie's just after The King being diagnosed. Nobody could say anything at the time. That was quite difficult,' Camilla says.

'I almost said something but, you know, I felt that it wasn't the time to say. [I] looked at everybody who was suffering and all the relations and I think it made me realise even more how important these places were.

'I was just longing to let it out, but obviously I couldn't.'

Speaking in the seven-minute film, which incorporates a moving conversation filmed at Clarence House with the charity's chief executive, Dame Laura Lee, Queen Camilla describes how while she had always listened and engaged with patients and their families on her many visits to Maggie's centres around the country, it was hard to come to terms with the fact she was now also there as one of them.

'I was almost questioning them,' she admits of the others there. 'I didn't, you know, I didn't want to pry too deeply… I was just talking to them, but… I felt it was much more deep.'

It has also made her even more determined to ensure that 'every single hospital must have a Maggie's'. 'I don't know where we would be without these centres… a place where it is ok not to pretend to be fine,' she says.

'If you literally take the cork out of the bottle and talk about it,' the Queen remarks.  

Told that the King's approach to fighting cancer had been an inspiration to many, the Queen said proudly: 'Look at my husband. Nothing stopped him. He just said, 'This is my way, I'm going to cope with it'.

'It had never really come back to roost at home and suddenly your husband is diagnosed and you think, 'Goodness, I've been talking to all these people and now I'm the one… who has got to help to look after my poor husband and try to understand it all'.

The low-key visit took place on January 31, 2024, just a few days after the King and Queen had been given the unimaginably worrying news by doctors that surgeons had found cancer present during routine surgery at The London Hospital for a benign enlarged prostate.

Buckingham Palace has never revealed what kind of cancer it is, but has confirmed it was not prostate or related to his surgery. The King has always hoped that by doing this, his message of positivity about living with cancer would reach the widest possible audience.

He embarked on a long, and at times deeply gruelling, process of undisclosed treatment, which continues in part today.

However, last December officials announced that His Majesty has responded 'exceptionally well' to treatment and that it would now move into a 'precautionary phase'. Charles described the milestone as a 'great personal blessing'.

His condition continues to be continuously monitored and reviewed to 'protect and prioritise his continued recovery'.

The Queen has been President of Maggie's since 2008 – in fact it was one of the earliest patronages she took on after her marriage.

It was founded by the indomitable Maggie Keswick Jencks, a writer and landscape designer who used her own experience with advanced breast cancer to design a new non-institutional and homelike environment to help people live with, through and beyond the disease.

She was first diagnosed at the age of 47, sadly for it to return five years later.

After being told by doctors she had just three months to live, she and her architect husband, Charles, were moved to a windowless hospital corridor to process the news, where she vowed to find somewhere better for people to go, outside of – but in close proximity – to their own hospital for help and support.

Working closely with her oncologist nurse Dame Laura Lee, now chief executive, Maggie devoted the next months of her life to making that dream a reality.

She died 18 months after her terminal diagnosis in July 1995, sadly before the first centre was opened in Edinburgh the following year, but the Queen praised her 'extraordinary legacy'. 'Wherever she is now she must be so proud,' she says.

The charity has proudly 'redefined' what cancer care should be, offering free psychological, emotional and practical support for people with cancer as well as their family and friends.

There are now 27 centres across the UK built in the grounds of major NHS cancer hospitals and supporting hundreds of thousands of people each year.

The Queen has visited 18 out of Maggie's 27 centres, some more than once – and has often said it is her lifelong ambition to tour each and every one.

Dame Laura Lee DBE praised the Queen's 'strength' in continuing with her public engagement two years ago despite her husband's diagnosis, saying: 'It was a huge privilege to sit in conversation with our president, Her Majesty The Queen, as part of a film to mark 30 years of Maggie's supporting people impacted by cancer. 

'To hear her speak so powerfully of her own emotions when visiting our Royal Free centre, while knowing about His Majesty's diagnosis, is a huge honour.

'The King's openness about his diagnosis has undoubtedly helped others to be more open themselves, and to now hear the Queen's completely understandable and natural response as a wife, shines a light on why it is so important that family and friends also get the support they need.

'Over the last 18 years, I have been with Her Majesty on many visits to our centres, meeting hundreds of people living with cancer. Her warmth, empathy and genuine interest in everyone she meets have always been a constant. She doesn't just listen but offers support and recognition that they are not alone. 

'The Queen was the same as always when she officially opened our Royal Free centre while knowing about His Majesty The King's diagnosis but being unable to say.

'It shows a tremendous amount of strength to be able to do that – to continue to put those in front of her first while still processing the news that she was unable to share. 

'I know now that she was longing to express her own feelings as a wife. Her Majesty carried on meeting and speaking with people with her usual calm and kindness which fills me with so much affection and respect. Her selflessness on that visit is testament to her compassion and care for others.

'I am very touched that Her Majesty chose to share how she felt on the visit with me as part of our film.'

Dame Laura described how Camilla understood what the charity was trying to do from the moment she first walked through their door almost two decades ago and offered her support.

'She understood how important it is to have welcoming, homely buildings where people can breathe a sigh of relief over a cup of tea, find the expertise and support they need to face a cancer diagnosis, and make the most of a small gift of time away from hospitals and everyday life,' she added. 

'She quickly became our president and ever since she has been a constant source of support.

'Her Majesty has undoubtedly played a huge part in helping us to be where we are today as a charity marking 30 years of providing expert cancer support. 

'The Queen committed to ensuring we are there for everyone going through cancer. She has, after all, set us a challenge by saying there needs to be a Maggie's in every town and city.'

With the number of people with cancer set to rise rapidly over the next 30 years, Maggie's aims to support millions more visits to centres from people with cancer and people who love them by having 60 Maggie's centres across the UK – one at every major NHS cancer centre.

While it costs nothing to come into a Maggie's Centre, the charity is aiming to raise £30million this year to support its work.

The full film collaboration between Maggie's and Buckingham Palace will be available to view on the Royal Family's YouTube channel.