King Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, visted the Pharmacy and Pharmacology department at Ulster University where he met fellow cancer patients and shared his advice
The King has shared his advice with fellow cancer patients, saying: “You just have to push on, don’t you.” Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment visited the Pharmacy and Pharmacology department at Ulster University Coleraine campus. It came during the second day of the royal visit to Northern Ireland, seeing a research laboratory at the cutting edge of new treatment.
And speaking to another cancer survivor, he said: “What’s that Winston Churchill saying? Keep buggering on!” During the visiting, he was shown a new technique for a highly “targeted drug delivery system”, in which medicine is loaded into microbubbles to send to the precise site of cancer within the body.
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There, using ultrasound, the bubbles are burst to deliver the drug to try to eradicate the cancer. The technique, which is about to begin clinical trials on humans, is designed to minimise the side effects of chemotherapy, using just 10 to 20 per cent of the dose currently required. The King proclaimed the research “amazing”.
As he was shown the lab, including stations where the microbubbles are shaken and studied under microscopes, he raised his eyebrows in astonishment at hearing how it worked, and was heard to say “wow”.
Professor John Callan, Norbrook Chair in Pharmaceutical Science, gave the tour, with Professor Mark Taylor, Consultant Surgeon and Visiting Professor at Ulster University, explaining that they were seeking the next “eureka moment” in the field.
At one point, the King was startled by the machine wobbling the microbubbles, shaking his own head and hands along with it. He said he was particularly fascinated by the effect of treatment on the immune system, and asked whether pancreatic cancer was particularly hard to treat. The lab is working on pancreatic, prostate and breast cancer, with a research team made up of PhD and post-doc students.
The King arrived at the campus to a small crowd of students outside. One shouted “Free Palestine”, with others cheering as the King walked towards them unexpectedly. He made his way down the line, asking students about their courses and when their exams were. If they ran into problems with their lecturers today, he said, “you can always blame me”.
“We’ve already used you as an excuse!” one young woman told him, cheerfully. “Good luck with your exams,” he said, waving as he walked into the building as the crowd clapped.
In the research centre, the King was introduced to scientists, researchers and PHD students working on stimulus-responsive therapeutic systems for cancer. Hearing about the reduction in side effects, he clenched his fists for emphasis and exclaimed “yeah!” “Well done,” he said, as he left.
After looking through the microscope in the lab, he spent time with four small groups of people including Ivan McMinn, Ann McBrien and Tim Kerr, who shared their experience of living with cancer in Northern Ireland and working to raise awareness. He then unveiled a plaque marking the visit to the Cancer Research Centre.
Ivan McMinn, chairman of the Northern Ireland Pancreatic Cancer charity, described his conversation with the King as “really relaxed” and said their meeting was a ‘privilege’. The 62-year-old from Belfast, who met Charles during his visit to the university said he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 14 years ago, with a reoccurrence four years later, but is now really thankful to have been in remission for 10 years.
He said: “It was great to have the privilege to meet His Majesty, and you can just see he is genuinely interested in the combination of research and government departments working with people with lived experience, and the magic sauce to bring all that together for the betterment of patients across all cancers.”
Mr McMinn said while Charles did not reference his own cancer diagnosis in 2024, the King’s questioning indicated his interest. “His questioning, you could almost imagine what was inside his mind, why he was asking the questions he was,” he added.
“It’s just been marvellous. I had the privilege of meeting the late Queen a few years ago, and today is another day like that – one of those days that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. To shake the hand of the monarch, it’s not your every day experience and one that I was delighted to have the privilege to do.”
Charles and Queen Camilla started the day in the north-west of the region in the town of Limavady where they were welcomed by members of the local community in Market Street. Young and old waved Union flags and cheered as the royal couple arrived. Among the crowd was six-year-old cocker spaniel Lily, whose owner Nadine Connor dressed her in a knitted crown for the occasion.
After, they visited and arable family farm near Limavady meeting Richard and Leona Kane, the owners of Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil. They showed the royal couple around their home and business and introduced them to their two rescue Shetland ponies, Ricky and Holly. Charles was presented with an oak sapling while Camilla helped local celebrity chef Paula McIntyre cook steak using the farm’s oil produce in the Kanes’ kitchen.
“It’s probably one of those things that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Mrs Kane told the PA news agency. She said Camilla was disappointed the Kanes’ two rescue dogs were not on the farm on Thursday, but said she enjoyed feeding carrots to the Shetland ponies.
“She said that they could be quite cheeky at times and I said ‘well you don’t want to go too close to Ricky, because he could end up nipping you’, so she laughed. “And she said she rescues her own ponies as well. We had quite a lot in common, between rescuing ponies, cats and dogs.