King Charles is famous for his workaholism. He works seven days a week without a lunch break on weekdays, sometimes staying up until 4 a.m. to respond to correspondence. The King will be hospitalized this week for "corrective surgery" for a benign prostate enlargement. All of this leads to a plea from his wife, Queen Camilla, to "slow down."

"Queen Camilla has reportedly told Prince Charles to cut back on engagements in order to rest," the Mirror reports. In the past year, Prince Charles has already visited France, Germany, and Kenya in addition to his coronation in May; in 2023, he will have completed 516 official engagements, 94 of which were abroad.

"The queen has told him he needs to slow down a bit," a source told The Sun.

This is not the first time the King's family has spoken out about such matters. Both of his sons commented on his work ethic in a documentary released in 2018 to coincide with Prince Charles' 70th birthday, with Prince William commenting that he "never stops: when we were kids, bags and bags and bags of work sent to him from the office were there," he said in Prince, Son, and Heir-Charles at 70. Prince Harry added that even after skipping lunch, his father would eat "ridiculously late at night," and "later that night he would go to his desk and sleep on his notebook so much that he would wake up with paper stuck to his face. [The king waited 73 years, perhaps the longest apprenticeship in history, before becoming monarch. Those close to Prince Charles say he "likes to be busy" and is "highly motivated": "His work ethic is well known and no surprise to anyone," they say.

And while Prince Charles will not be seen in public for a month, The Sun reports that he will continue to work while he rests, handling government documents and his famous red boxes. In her book Courtiers, royal author Valentine Lowe said that the King is "very hard on himself" and demands the same of his staff, calling on them "any time" until 11 p.m. and even at Christmas. [Sophie Winkleman, who is married to the King's cousin, Sir Frederick Windsor, said, "The King works all day, has dinner, and then disappears until about 4 a.m. to write letters. He cares about so many things and comes up with such brilliant solutions."

Royal biographer Robert Jobson, profiling Charles in his book Our King, said, "The King is a thoroughly decent man, always striving to do his best as a public servant, an honest man who tries to put duty before himself. 'He is also a craftsman and regularly puts in long hours. He cares very deeply about the United Kingdom, the other countries he serves, the people of the wider Commonwealth, and the planet we all inhabit. He has always had an innate sense of duty and has done his best to justify his good fortune by working tirelessly to improve the circumstances of those less fortunate than himself"

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By the way, the King may have made a difference through his own health concerns; the Mirror reported that the NHS website saw an increase in traffic on the subject of prostate enlargement. But the announcement clearly worked, with more than 26,000 visits to NHS England's enlarged prostate page within [48 hours of the announcement].

All good things, but Harry agrees with Camilla on this point. Back in 2018, in a documentary commemorating Charles turning 70, Harry said of his father, "He needs to slow down."