Cambodia’s King Sihamoni reveals prostate cancer diagnosis
King Norodom Sihamoni says he has prostate cancer and will stay in Beijing for up to three months as Cambodia’s palace role remains largely ceremonial
Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni has announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is undergoing treatment in China, in a rare personal statement from the 72-year-old monarch.
According to Reuters, citing Cambodia’s Ministry of Information, the king said in a royal message that the diagnosis was confirmed after thorough medical examinations by a team of doctors at a hospital in Beijing. He said he would remain in the Chinese capital for between one and three months on medical advice.
“Dear compatriots, please be informed that, after a thorough check-up by a team of doctors at a hospital in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, it has been confirmed that I am currently suffering from prostate cancer,” the king said in the message, according to reports.
The disclosure sheds light on the health of a monarch who has long maintained a low public profile. Sihamoni has served as king since 2004, when he returned to Phnom Penh to ascend the throne following the abdication of his father, the late King Norodom Sihanouk.
Before becoming king, Sihamoni built a very different career from that of most modern monarchs. He studied in the former Czechoslovakia for more than a decade, specialising in the performing arts, and later taught ballet at conservatories in France during the 1980s. He also served as Cambodia’s ambassador to the United Nations in the early 1990s before becoming the country’s permanent representative to UNESCO.
His father, Norodom Sihanouk, remained one of the most influential figures in Cambodian history, particularly in the years following independence from France in 1953. Sihanouk later abdicated and moved to Beijing, where he battled several illnesses, including cancer, before dying of heart failure in 2012 at the age of 89.
Although the Cambodian monarchy still holds deep symbolic importance, its role today is largely ceremonial. Political power in recent decades has been dominated by Hun Sen, who shaped the country’s direction for nearly four decades as prime minister before handing over power to his son, Hun Manet.
