King’s Birthday comes amidst ongoing cancer concerns, familial tensions and diplomatic tightropes - The Front Page

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney with King Charles after the King delivered the Speech from the Throne in Ottawa on May 28, 2025. Photo / Blair Gable / POOL / AFP

King Charles’ whirlwind visit to Canada may have been a bit more than your usual Commonwealth tour.

While the monarch didn’t utter an inference to Donald Trump, his speech supporting the country as he opened parliament in Ottawa referenced the promise to “protect Canadians and their sovereign rights”.

It comes as the US President claimed the country would become the 51st state of the United States, a suggestion that has drawn the ire of Canadians, who allowed Prime Minister Mark Carney to retain power on the promise of retaliation to Trump’s tariffs.

“Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the government is determined to protect,” Charles said, adding that Canada was facing a “critical moment”.

UK correspondent and royal expert, Gavin Grey, told The Front Page the King’s trip was hugely symbolic.

“The reason for the trip, without doubt, was the fact that Donald Trump is trying to pressure Canada into becoming the 51st state. That is something Mark Carney said is not going to happen. But, he would’ve been pleased to be able to invite King Charles over in order to really round that home.

“At no point, to my knowledge, did King Charles actually use the word ‘Trump’, but everything in that opening address in Ottawa was about Canada being independent, part of the Commonwealth, not being for sale to America,” he said.

Grey said the monarchy has a tricky balancing act when it comes to matters of diplomacy.

“King Charles has a very difficult tightrope walk because he’s got to say all the right things for Canada while he’s there, while not angering Donald Trump. Royals don’t go around naming and shaming, but at the same time, the UK is pretty dependent on good trade with America,” he said.

The 20-hour visit was kept that short due to the King’s ongoing cancer treatment.

Last year, Charles and Queen Camilla visited Samoa and Australia, but dropped New Zealand from the agenda for similar reasons.

Grey said that while Princess Catherine announced earlier this year she is in remission, the King’s ongoing treatment is leaving things in a “state of flux” for the royal family.

And it could prevent him from making more big overseas trips in the short term.

“I do know he’s absolutely desperate to get around as much of the Commonwealth as possible, particularly the much closer members. I do know at the time, from sources, he was gutted not to be able to complete the tour as was initially envisaged.

“Although he didn’t make it this time, I think New Zealand’s gonna be pretty much top of the list for places for him to visit when he is fully better.

“He’s still somebody being treated for cancer. Prince Harry didn’t really help matters when he said he didn’t know how much longer his father had got left, which was something that lots of people were quite shocked about,” Grey said.

The fleeting visit comes just weeks after Harry revealed in a BBC interview that his father refuses to talk to him. The half-hour conversation was filmed after the Duke of Sussex lost his appeal to overturn the decision to remove his UK police security detail.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Prince Harry’s reconciliation attempts and how the Princess of Wales is doing post-cancer treatment.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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