KCharles III has been given many new titles following the recent death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but one existing title that remains is “Royal Patron of the Faculty of Homeopathy”, an organization of health professionals who also practice pseudo-scientific medicine. And the new king’s ties to alternative medicine go beyond this patronage and alliance with alternative medicine: on several occasions, then-Prince Charles appears to have lobbied for homeopathy and other areas of alternative medicine. As King Charles ascends the throne, experts reflect on his influence on medical science in the UK as Prince of Wales, and how he could influence alternative medicine in the UK as monarch .
Edzard Ernstretired academic doctor who specialized in the study of complementary and alternative medicine at the University of Exeter and who published his book Charles, the alternative prince at the beginning of this year, says The scientist that King Charles “takes a great interest in (alternative medicine)”, which he originally thought was “brilliant” because such attention could have fostered support for Ernst’s own work researching which, the where appropriate, alternative treatments have scientific merit. But “it turns out that (the king) is not really interested in research but wants to use – as much as possible – alternative medicine in the NHS nationally and in medicine globally,” says Ernst .
Famous, then Prince Charles said in 2010 he “felt proud” of accusations that he was “the enemy of the Enlightenment,” an 18th-century social movement during which science and evidence-based reasoning flourished. Interest in alternative medicine was probably shared by King Charles’s parents, according to David Colquhounpharmacologist at University College London who wrote about King on his blog “DC’s Improbable Science.” Colquhoun points out that the Queen herself was previously patron of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, now renamed the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. The hospital’s medical director, Peter Fisher, was the medical director to Queen Elizabeth II. homeopathic doctor for at least 15 years.
However, Ernst says that to his knowledge, the Queen has never made a public statement in favor of homeopathy or alternative medicine, and “that’s the big difference” from the King. Ernst claims that his criticisms are not about the king’s personal use of homeopathy, although he notes that “as soon as he became seriously ill, he was given the best medicine that conventional treatments could offer.” Rather, it is the now king’s public support for homeopathy and other areas of alternative medicine, ranging from iridology to Gerson Therapy (attempting to treat cancer with juice and coffee instead of chemotherapy), marmatherapy, pulse diagnosis and reflexology (“those alternative treatments that lack evidence and plausibility,” as Ernst puts it) – which he and others criticize, particularly because of its potential to influence medical policy.
Lobbying for pseudoscience
The “most obvious” incident in which King Charles attempted to influence the adoption of alternative medicine, Ernst says, were the letters he sent to British politicians. pressure for pseudoscientific treatments. These “Black Spider Memos,” as they have come to be known, a collection of letters sent by then-Prince Charles to ministers in British government departments, only came to light after a 10-year legal battle. years led by The Guardian. Publishing the Spider Memos required a ruling from the UK Supreme Court, points out Michael Marshall, project director of the Good Thinking Society. “Charles wrote lobbying letters to open up space within the (National Health Service (NHS)) for ineffective drugs, which he tried to hide,” Marshall said. The scientist. “He was very keen that his influence be used in a non-transparent way. »
The memos also contained a letter sent in 2007 to Alan Johnson, who was then Secretary of Health. In the letter, the then prince wrote that “more can be done to take advantage of complementary medicine” and “there should be more of a ‘whole person’ approach to treating disease rather than a “reductionist” approach to the disease. a particular illness. » This echoes the common argument of prohomeopathy which presents the practice as being more holistic than the use of pharmaceuticals. His goal was clear, Ernst says. “It became very clear that he was pushing politicians – Tony Blair, the Health Secretary and other politicians – to use more alternative treatments in our National Health Service. »
Charles cannot prevent progress, but he certainly hinders progress.
—Edzard Ernst
At times, King Charles abandoned secrecy to openly support alternative medicine on the world stage: in 1982, he promoted alternative medicine in a highly criticized speech for the 150th anniversary of the British Medical Association (BMA), of which he has just been appointed president. King Charles also established a charity, the Foundation for Integral Health (FIH) in 1993, with the aim of exploring “how safe and proven complementary therapies can work in conjunction with traditional medicine”. According to a blog post According to Ernst, the foundation has also worked with medical schools “to increase understanding of complementary approaches among new physicians.”
Then, in 2006 speech Before the World Health Organization in Geneva, King Charles urged practitioners of orthodox medicine to take inspiration from alternative medicine. This discourse also sparked criticism from doctors, who were alarmed that alternative medicines might be promoted and practiced despite their lack of supporting evidence.
Four years later, in 2010, the FIH closed amid allegations of fraud and money laundering. A criminal investigation ended in the conviction from the foundation’s financial director, George Gray. The College of Medicine was born from the ashes of the foundation shortly after, with a promotional slideshow stating that it was “a new strategy to advance HRH Prince Charles’ vision”, describing itself as “the evolution of his foundation for Integrated Health work to date” . THE College of Medicine and Integrated Health, as it is currently called, seeks to “redefine medicine beyond pills and procedures” and “utilize both conventional and unconventional approaches to health.” In 2021, the king was still patron from the College of Medicine and Integrated Health. At the time of publication of this article, neither the College of Medicine and Integrated Health nor Clarence House (which handles press inquiries regarding King Charles III) have responded to questions. The scientistrequest for comment.
Despite the various ways in which King Charles attempted to influence the adoption of alternative medicine, did his activities have much effect? Not really, says Ernst. “He tried very hard and with a lot of persistence, but he didn’t have much success.”
Ernst adds that when the king began to “promote alternative medicine in the UK, we had five homeopathic hospitals. Today we no longer have any. » And if homeopathy was then still integrated into the British health system, homeopathic remedies are no longer paid for by the NHS. Yet he asserts that “Charles cannot prevent progress, but he certainly hinders progress.”
However, King Charles probably influenced veterinary Medicine, says Marshall, highlighting King Charles’s advocacy of the use of homeopathy with farm animals. “He says his organic farm runs entirely without antibiotics, because they use homeopathy instead” says Marshall, adding that the king’s claims that his cows do not contract mastitis thanks to homeopathic treatments “may be convincing to farm owners”, even if homeopathy doesn’t help cows. “What helps his herd stay infection-free is the fact that it is a very well-funded farm with excellent animal care, which means the cows are less likely to live in conditions presenting a risk of infection. Charles attributes it to homeopathy, but it really should be attributed to the level of care and attention his animals receive.
See “Review: Homeopathy does not help livestock»
Additionally, King Charles’ letter to Tony Blair in 2005 may have influenced the regulation of labeling of herbal medicines. In 2004, an EU directive stated that herbal remedies could not be sold without the approval of a given member state’s regulatory agencies. In his letter to Tony Blair, the then Prince Charles wrote: “We briefly mentioned the European Union Medicinal Plants Directive, which is having such a deleterious effect on the complementary medicine sector in this country by banning makes use of certain plant extracts. I think we both agreed that it was about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Although Marshall is unsure of the role that lobbying by King and others in the industry may have played, he says that ultimately the standard of proof required by the UK Medicines Regulatory Agency and Health Products (MHRA) was weakened in 2006. amendment to the regulation. At the time the letter was written, Charles owned Duchy Originals, a company that produced herbal remedies and, as of 2009, owned Duchy Originals. critical for misleading advertisements claiming that their products could rid the body of toxins, which the company made to modify in the future, although they have since stopped selling herbal remedies.
Now that Charles is king, Ernst expects him to be less vocal on the subject of alternative medicine. “The time for public proclamations of this kind is over. . . . But his influence has grown considerably and he can be expected to be pulling the strings behind the scenes.” Marshall also suggests that King Charles could not offer personal opinions on the matter. But it might be hard to tell whether he’s still lobbying behind the scenes, Marshall warns. “He might just quit altogether and we’ll never see him lobbying again.” Or he will continue to defend his various favorite interests, but in an even more opaque manner. Both look similar from the outside.
Update (September 30): Buckingham Palace spokesperson Laura Sullivan provided The scientist with the following statement: “As Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness came to the view that complementary medicine could play a role in healthcare, provided it was integrated with conventional treatments, a position that he reached after years of discussions with experts from many different fields. areas of medicine.
