Operation Menai Bridge: funeral plans for King Charles amid cancer battle explained

King Charles III’s health, which is reportedly declining, is worrying his friends and the palace as the royal battles an undisclosed type of cancer.

The kings’ funeral plans, which have been dubbed Operation Menai Bridge, are reportedly being reviewed.

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth and the funeral in September 2022, evaluation to add on shortcomings next time a monarch dies is also being made.

Royal correspondent Tom Sykes reported to the Daily Beast, “Speaking to friends of the king in recent weeks about his health, the most common response is a lowering of the voice by half an octave or so, followed by the sombre, drawn-out pronouncement: ‘It’s not good.’

A friend of the 75-year-old monarch shared that Charles “is determined to beat it and they are throwing everything at it.”

“Everyone is staying optimistic, but he is really very unwell. More than they are letting on” he added.

Journalist Tina Brown wrote in a New York Times essay that since Charles’ cancer diagnosis and subsequent battle, the pressure is on Prince Wiliam and Kate Middleton.

“The almost simultaneous news of Charles’s cancer has put William and Catherine in frightening proximity to ascending the throne just when they had hoped for a span of years to parent their children out of the public eye.”

“The prospect of it, I am told, is causing them intense anxiety,” Brown wrote in the outlet.

A former staffer shared that Charles’ health struggles have given his plans an urgency.

“The plans have been dusted off and are actively being kept up to date. It’s no more than what you would expect given the king has been diagnosed with cancer. But the circulation of them has certainly focused minds,” the source explained.

In February 2024, Buckingham Palace announced Charles’ cancer diagnosis following surgery for a benign prostate enlargement. They added that the royal would be undergoing “regular treatment” and had been “advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties.”

Following the announcement, his first public appearance was during Ester's services. He also attended church on Queen Elizabeth’s 98th posthumous birthday – where he drove himself and Queen Camilla.

Charles ascended the throne after the coronation ceremony in May 2023, taking over the throne after his mother’s 70 years of reign.