Boris Johnson said Queen Elizabeth II had bone cancer. It’s not unusual for royals to keep health troubles private.

Royal watcher Kristen Meinzer also noted that the media landscape of much of the 1900s was intrinsically friendlier to offering public figures privacy than our modern era is.

“The Queen, over the course of her lifetime, saw a huge change in the media landscape and thus how information about the royal family was disseminated,” she said. “It was easier if the royals wanted to be private about their health 100 years ago to just not say anything.”

The Queen and Prince Philip carried on her father’s legacy of privacy, but Harris said their motivation was likely slightly more strategic than King George VI’s.

“Both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip always wanted the headlines to be focused on the work of the monarchy rather than their individual health conditions,” Harris said.

“I think so much of King Charles III’s life, both his public life and his private life, have unfolded before the media, so it’s clear that he feels more comfortable engaging with the media,” Harris said.

Harris and Meinzer pointed to the biography “The Prince of Wales,” which the king worked on with Jonathan Dimbleby in the 1990s, as an example of his openness to the media.

“I think King Charles III sees the benefit of the public being aware of the monarch going through these various health procedures,” Harris said.

After he announced he was undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate in January, the NHS page about prostate enlargement saw a surge in daily visitors.

Although the king’s openness has made a positive impact, and Kate recently shared that she finished chemotherapy, Meinzer doesn’t think they will reveal intimate details about their treatments in the coming months.

“Maybe eventually there will be another memoir or biography that Charles collaborates on or that Kate collaborates on,” Meinzer said. “I wouldn’t expect that anytime soon, but it’s always a possibility.”