King Charles has a lot on his plate. Not only is he the king of England, but he is also battling cancer. Can he handle it all? He thinks so, but sources close to the royal family claim that he’s “in denial.”

The Daily Beast reports that King Charles is planning to visit Australia this fall. He was also scheduled to visit New Zealand and Fiji, but those plans may change.

One reason many think that the King will only visit Australia on the upcoming trip is that his personal secretary has only been spotted in Australia and not in New Zealand; however, Buckingham Palace has yet to make an official cancellation announcement. Why are they hesitant to cancel the trip? According to a royal source, it’s because they’re “in denial.”

The source said, “They are in denial by continuing to say that planning for the overseas trip is full steam ahead, but the orders come from the top. Charles is optimistic and desperately wants to keep going with everything. Missing New Zealand is a great loss, and it will be a source of great regret for him, because to be honest he probably won’t be doing it again. But it’s frankly incredible that he is still doing Australia and that should be celebrated.”

The source went on to explain why it’s so important to Charles to visit Australia. According to the source, “Australia is such an important part of the Commonwealth that Charles feels it is absolutely non-negotiable. There is considerable popular antipathy to the entire concept of the British monarch being head of state there, and of course he doesn’t want to go down as the man who lost Australia. To go there when he is being treated for cancer wasn’t what he planned—but you could hardly think of a better way of letting Australians know how important they are to the crown.”

A friend of Charles shared how important the international visit is to the king. The friend explained, “Charles is keenly aware of the importance of a visit by the monarch, not just to a foreign country but to domestic charities and organizations. That is why he has been determined to do as much as he can, meet as many people as he can and support as many causes as he can. Sitting in splendid isolation in Balmoral with his feet up would not be good for his morale. But at the same time, if the doctors—and his wife—say no to something, he has to listen to them. I think that is what we are seeing now.”

A friend of Queen Camilla claims that she is urging her husband to “slow down.” According to the friend, “Of course, he wants to keep cracking on, but she is afraid that doing too much could set him back.”

Do you think Charles will be forced to “slow down” whether he wants to or not?