Carlos III, the lover of homeopathy – Gearrice

With the death of Elizabeth IIthe kingship of England passed into the hands of his son, now known as Charles III. A new stage begins in Buckingham very different from the one who has sat on the throne for 70 years. In recent days, social networks and press headlines around the world have echoed some of the peculiar manias of the new king. Also of his hobbies, so different from those of his mother. For example, during his time as a prince, he has been involved in more than one controversy due to his support for pseudosciences and pseudotherapies such as homeopathy.

Such was his involvement in these types of issues that he even became the owner of a company that promoted some herbal remedies without any scientific evidence. One of the most controversial was a tincture based on dandelion and artichoke, which promised to detoxify the body.

All this, moreover, has earned him some clashes with Dr. Edzard Ernst, a retired professor of complementary medicine from the University of Exeterknown for his activism against pseudotherapies that he dedicated himself to studying.

There have been several occasions on which Carlos III has expressed his support for various pseudotherapies.

However, the real controversy began in 2005, when he commissioned the economist Cristopher Smallwood to write a report on the profitability of complementary and alternative medicine. Its objective was to demonstrate that this type of practice should be financed by the UK National Health Service (NHS).

Edzard Ernst himself participated in it. However, he requested that his name be removed upon verifying that the scientific evidence they were not being taken into account in drawing the conclusions. Here began a confrontation between the monarch and the doctor that, in addition, has generated a large number of criticisms and threats from the population towards the latter.

Despite the preparation of said report, in 2017 the house of commons science and technology committee declared homeopathy scientifically implausible. In addition, the NHS put in place a series of measures to make it not available on prescription. However, that same year the then Prince Charles became a patron of an organization aimed at promoting him.

Since then, other similar situations have been happening one after another. On certain occasions he was directly the architect of the same, while on others he was only the fame that precedes him. The latter occurred, for example, in the midst of a pandemic, when he himself fell ill with COVID-19. The now King Carlos III recovered so quickly that in Indiaa country known for its great support for homeopathy, the hoax spread that it had been treated with this pseudotherapy.

The princes officials were quick to deny it, but the damage had already been done. The fame of homeopathy against the coronavirus spread like wildfire and became even greater in India. Needless to say, it wasnt his fault. However, when a person of great influence gives such unconditional support to pseudoscientific ideas, reality and evidence have a much harder time prevailing.

Now that the prince has become King Carlos III, it remains to be seen if he changes his position on homeopathy. However, it could also be that he takes advantage of his new influence to give more force to his pseudo-scientific discourse.

While it is true that his older years public support for homeopathy seemed to have passed, this same year he was responsible for the opening speech of a major conference on integrative medicine.

This is a concept that combines scientific medicine with alternative therapies. It is true that it may seem that you are at half gas in the field of pseudotherapies, but it is still another manifestation of pseudoscience. Therefore, it doesnt seem like his point of view has changed. We will have to wait to find out how he performs as king and, above all, if he decides to maintain what has been unconditional support until now. Possibly, we will soon have the answers.

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Carlos III, the lover of homeopathy - Gearrice