His Majesty King Charles III's iconic royal residence, Buckingham Palace, is filled with impressive features like concealed entrances, a private pool and its very own post office. As well as these unique attributes, there is also an NHS GP surgery behind palace walls that's only reserved for royal staff.
With 188 staff bedrooms at the palace, there are lots of people to keep well, particularly during cold and flu season. The secret medical centre is located in the royal mews, which is where the King's cars and horses are kept, and it is open to all 800 staff at the palace. But, there's one important reason that King Charles never steps foot inside.
During the documentary, A Year at Buckingham Palace: Winter, on Channel 5, the outside of the surgery was showcased, and it was also revealed why His Majesty never uses it, and that's because he has his very own private medical team known as the 'Royal medical household'. This robust, expert team of doctors and physicians are on-call 24 hours a day for the monarch. This is a long-standing tradition for monarchs through the decades.
King Charles' cancer treatment
This dedicated team of people will have been utilised effectively during the height of His Majesty's cancer treatment. Buckingham Palace first disclosed the royal's diagnosis in February 2024, and in December 2025, Charles gave a positive update about his health.
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He said: "Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to 'doctors' orders', my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year.
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"This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty per cent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives."
It is unknown which type of cancer His Majesty has but it was detected during treatment for an enlarged prostate. He has since been a huge advocate for members of the public to get checked. The 77-year-old has encouraged people to take up the invitation for screenings, highlighting the national Screening Checker, which is now available online, for breast, bowel or cervical cancer screening.
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Charles' daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, has had her own cancer battle. Prince William's wife, Princess Catherine has preventative chemotherapy after the discovery of cancer cells following abdominal surgery. The royal concluded her chemotherapy in September 2024. In January 2025, during a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, she announced that she was officially in remission. Since then, the mother-of-three has fully returned to public duties, using her experience to advocate for cancer awareness, mental health support, and the restorative benefits of nature during health issues.
Buckingham Palace: A Year in the Life, Saturdays, C5. All episodes are also available to stream on C5.