King Charles III's reaction to cancer diagnosis shows he is a man of the people - Christa Ackroyd

From his rejection of the concrete architecture of the 1970s which we have all lived to regret, to his love of heritage and his once mocked views on the environment and traditional farming methods, he has tackled almost every issue on the planet, particularly those which affect the planet.

And now, in what might be his most daunting and personal battle to date as a cancer sufferer, King Charles continues to speak out and show his true colours on issues that effect every man or woman on the street.

He may not walk among us but he always connects. So often he has been years ahead of his time. And despite his lifestyle, a million miles away from yours or mine, he remains relevant and, yes, inspirational.

Because he just seems to understand life and how we could all live it so much better.

I have been particularly struck by his honest message to those who are going through the same issues as he is, and that is facing his own mortality because of dreaded cancer.

His message that cancer sucks, the shock of diagnosis hits you like a ton of bricks and yet life is for living, each and every day, hits home to those who have gone through it or those who have seen the suffering of loved ones either during treatment or in death.

Yet by sharing his own experiences he becomes one of us. No different to any man, woman or, God forbid, child who has to not only try to come to terms with what every one dreads hearing but then face the gruelling battle to survive. And it is gruelling. And frightening.

But due to magnificent research by brilliant doctors and scientists often funded by charitable giving, more and more people can and will survive. Or at least live longer.

His message that cancer is no longer an immediate death sentence and gives us all the more reason to go on living and living well, is a magnificent one.

Of course he was far more eloquent than that. He is a wordsmith, but a wordsmith with a heart. He is a man who thinks carefully about what he says and knows how to touch others with his words.

And never more so than when he addressed a group of cancer warriors, survivors, fundraisers and researchers.

I don’t know why I was shocked when the announcement was made that the King had cancer. As we know almost one in two of us will face that news. But I was. And yet he has used his diagnosis to connect with us all. Again.

Firstly, let us recognise how ill he is and how debilitating his continued treatment must be. It is so out of character for the man to cancel any engagements. He knows full well how much excitement a royal visit produces as well as the hours and hours of preparation that goes into inviting a member of the Royal Family to visit our organisations.

But a few weeks ago he was forced to pull out of a series of engagements because of the effects of his ongoing medical interventions meaning he was just too ill and for once he was forced to listen to his doctors.

And yet like so many who are living with cancer still he bounces back and packs his diary determined to carry on because, as his wife told a group of people not so long ago, that is his way of coping. It makes the things he has to do and say all the more urgent.

And in doing so he has turned his own cancer journey into a show of hope and defiance.

Let us be honest he is a man in his seventies who could easily retreat to one of his many homes and be looked after literally like a King. But he doesn’t.

He gets up makes plans and carries on, while taking others in the same situation with him. And he does so with complete honesty about how tough that can be.

His words, as one who knows, will be a mantra to all facing the difficult and dark days that cancer brings with it. Even my mum, a cancer survivor herself after the months of gruelling treatment felt like throwing in the towel and giving in.

But she didn’t. Because we are all tougher than we think. Even my friend who passed away only a few months ago was determined to make every day count. And she did so with the strength and resilience that I can now only sit back and contemplate.

Every time anyone asked her about how she was the answer was the same ‘Oh don’t worry about me I am absolutely fine.’ And it was that attitude that ensured we continued making memories right until the end.

King Charles, as we know, is living with cancer. His daughter in law has announced hers is in remission and long may it continue to be so.

But in joining a club no one ever wants to join I am reminded by him of how it changes you, how you no longer sweat the small stuff as the Americans might put it. And how what once seemed momentous now appears petty and unimportant.

It is a life lesson all of us to learn in sickness but yes also when we are well. Life is often too busy, too chaotic and too challenging to live it as we should, until we are forced to face that indisputable fact that it is guaranteed to none of us .

King Charles published the message he gave to his fellow cancer warriors for all of us, a reminder not to waste a single day.

And I genuinely believe bitterness, anger, stress and selfishness is neither good for our hearts or for our bodies. He described his diagnosis as being both ‘daunting’ and ‘frightening.’ No stiff upper lip there.

And yet he turned it around to suggest it had also been one of the most positive things he had ever experienced. He was not speaking as a King when he said he had seen for himself ‘the profound impact of human connection.’

“Together,” he said, “a cancer diagnosis need never mean facing the future without hope and support,” before quoting the late bowel cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James when she proclaimed: “Have no regrets and always always have rebellious hope.”

King Charles has always had rebellious hope. Remember he was laughed at when he said he talked to trees. But he kept on talking to them anyway.

Well now he talks to us all by sharing his own cancer journey with fortitude and typical forthright attitude. This week I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace and the Royal Garden party alongside my chief Homeless Street Angel.

I do hope it is the King and we get to talk to him. Because on behalf of all of us I want to say thank you.

Thank you for his honesty, thank you for his compassion and above all thank you for always reminding us that whatever our position in life, we could all perhaps live it a little better.