Doctor slammed as 'irresponsible' after claiming King Charles' cancer may have been 'caused by Covid vaccine'
Dr Aseem Malhotra made the claims at Reform UK's conference at the weekend
The UK health secretary is among those to criticise a doctor who told the Reform UK conference that the Covid-19 vaccine may have contributed to cancer in the royal family after King Charles and Princess Kate’s diagnoses.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, reportedly an adviser to US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, said at the Birmingham conference on Saturday that he agreed with another doctor that: “It’s highly likely that the Covid vaccines have been a factor, a significant factor, in the cancer of members of the royal family.”
Health Secretary and Labour MP Wes Streeting has since led criticism of the doctor. He said: “When we are seeing falling numbers of parents getting their children vaccinated, and a resurgence of disease we had previously eradicated, it is shockingly irresponsible for [Reform UK leader] Nigel Farage to give a platform to these poisonous lies.
“Farage should apologise and sever all ties with this dangerous extremism.”
Doctor slammed over royal family comments amid King Charles’ cancer
Blood Cancer UK’s healthcare professional advisory panel, made up of specialists from across the UK, has said: “There are no controlled, large-scale studies (studies with the most robust scientific evidence) that demonstrate an increased cancer risk following COVID-19 vaccination.”<
Meanwhile, Brian Ferguson, a professor of viral immunology at the University of Cambridge slammed Dr Malhotra too. He said: “There is no credible evidence that these vaccines disrupt tumour suppressors or drive any kind of process – biochemical or otherwise – that results in cancer.
This kind of outlandish conspiracy theory only serves to undermine the credibility of those spreading it.
“It is particularly crass to try to link this pseudoscience to the unfortunate incidents of cancer in the royal family and is reminiscent of the ‘died suddenly’ trope which attempted – and ultimately failed – to link the death of any young person to their vaccination status.
“This kind of outlandish conspiracy theory only serves to undermine the credibility of those spreading it.”
Lord Bethell, a Conservative peer and former health minister, described the claims as “bad science” and a “clanger” for Reform UK.
A spokesperson for Reform UK has said: “Dr Aseem Malhotra is a guest speaker with his own opinions who has an advisory role in the US government. Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech.”
Royal Insider has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
King Charles and Kate Middleton’s cancer battles
King Charles announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer in February 2024. However, he didn’t share the type of cancer he had. It was reportedly a conscious decision that would help more people relate to him.
He has been undergoing treatment since. He said last week that he “wasn’t too bad” and joked that “bits don’t work so well do they once you get past 70”.
Meanwhile, his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton shared her own cancer diagnosis a month later. The cancer was found following abdominal surgery she underwent that January. Like Charles, she didn’t share which type she had. But Princess Kate revealed that she was undergoing treatment.
Read more: King Charles’ ‘fantastic’ appearance in new photo stuns fans as he continues cancer treatment
In September 2024, she told royal fans that she’d finished her cancer treatment. Then, she revealed that she was in remission at the start of 2025. In July, she described her diagnosis as “life-changing” and her recovery as a “rollercoaster”.
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