Over the years, there have been plenty of speculations of why King Charles’ fingers look swollen, but now that he’s a king, people are more and more concerned for his health.
Well, it turns Charles was born with fingers of unique features.
During a visit to Australia in 2012, King Charles allegedly joked about his fingers, referring to them as to his ‘sausage fingers.’
After William was born, Charles sent a letter to a friend informing him that he became a father. In the letter, he wrote, “I can’t tell you how excited and proud I am. He really does look surprisingly appetizing and has sausage fingers just like mine,” as per Howard Hodgson biography Charles, The Man Who Will Be King.
The Queen herself was aware Charles’ fingers were ‘different’ from the moment he was born.
“The baby is very sweet and we are enormously proud of him. He has an interesting pair of hands for a baby,” a letter from Queen Elizabeth read.
“They are rather large, but with fine long fingers quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his father’s. It will be interesting to see what they become. I still find it hard to believe I have a baby of my own!”
Dr. Gareth Nye, Senior Lecturer at the University of Chester, spoke to the Daily Star and explained that King Charles’ swollen fingers might be a result of oedema or fluid retention.
“Oedema is a condition where the body starts to retain fluids in the limbs, normally the legs and ankles but also in the fingers, which causes them to swell,” Nye said. “Oedema is a common condition and mostly affects people over the age of 65 as the ability for fluid control is restricted.”
He added, “To see if this is the cause, pressing the swollen area for about 15 seconds would cause a depression in the area.”
The state of his fingers could also be a sign of arthritis.
Following a visit of a Sikh temple in New Delhi, India, back in November 2019, many became aware that the King’s toes are swollen as well.
According to Nye, in Charles’ case, this may indicate to a more systemic condition. “If this is chronic, we could be looking at cardiovascular issues like heart failure, kidney disease or liver disease,” he said, and added: “However, it may simply be due to either/both continuous sitting with the legs bent for long periods, which is common in older patients who sit for prolonged periods, or prolonged standing as older people have a harder time returning blood from the feet and legs when standing due to normal changes in the cardiovascular system.”
He further said that “We may additionally be seeing arthritis impacting in the ankle which would also cause swelling like this.”
Although the King doesn’t suffer from any known conditions, he was involved in several accidents over the years.
In his book Spare, prince Harry revealed that his father was once involved in a polo accident after falling off a horse and was in “constant pain.”
He aggravated his back injury three years later when he fell off a horse at Windsor.
“Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pa’s neck, and back,” Harry wrote.
Explaining how King Charles hurt his back, the Harry explained: “Old polo injuries, mostly.”
he then added: “As a boy, I’d seen Pa take [a hard] fall, the horse giving way, the ground simultaneously smacking and swallowing him. I remembered thinking: ‘Why’s Pa snoring?’ And then someone yelling: ‘He’s swallowed his tongue!” Harry wrote, “A quick-thinking player jumped from his horse and saved Pa’s life.”
In 1998, then-prince Charles broke a rib while hunting foxes, and in 2001, he allegedly fractured a bone in his shoulder again after being involved in a horse falling accident.
That same year, he fell off a horse again and was forced to spend a night at a hospital.
“He was unconscious for a very brief time, was taken to the local hospital and is now being transferred to Cheltenham General Hospital where he will stay for a precautionary overnight stay,” spokesman Patrick Harrison said at the time.
We truly hope the King won’t get involved in any accidents in the future.
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