Their ancestors worked side by side in an early cancer campaign, decades before the illness touched both royals
An Australian academic has uncovered a striking historical connection between the families of King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealing that their ancestors once worked together to combat cancer.
The discovery was made by Michael Reed, a lecturer at Ilim College in Victoria, while researching Catherine’s family history. Reed recognised the name Sir Charles Lupton from earlier work on her paternal lineage and followed the trail further back.
What he found was a shared commitment to cancer campaigning nearly a century ago. Distant relatives of both the King and Catherine were instrumental in setting up the Yorkshire Council of the British Empire Cancer Campaign, at a time when the disease was still poorly understood and widely feared.
The King’s great-uncle, Viscount Henry Lascelles, later the sixth Earl of Harewood, became the council’s first president. Catherine’s great-great-great uncle, Sir Charles Lupton, served as its inaugural vice-president. There is no indication that either the King or the Princess is aware of this shared chapter in their family histories.
The link feels especially poignant given that both King Charles and Catherine were diagnosed with cancer in 2024, though the historical connection predates those events by decades.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Reed said he was struck by the determination shown by both men. Despite coming from aristocratic backgrounds, he noted, they chose to involve themselves directly in demanding and often unrewarded campaigning work. In the 1920s, cancer baffled many leading scientists, and few were willing to dedicate serious effort to finding answers.
For Reed, that choice made their contribution stand out and adds a quiet but powerful layer of meaning to the modern story of the royal family.
