EXCLUSIVE: Cancer-Stricken King Charles' Terror Revealed After Big Cat 'Beast' Spotted Stalking His and Queen Camilla's Country Estate
King Charles now has even more things to worry about.
Aug. 21 2025, Published 10:15 a.m. ET
Frail King Charles is said to be "shaken to the core" over fears a huge panther-like predator has been stalking the grounds around Highgrove House, the Gloucestershire estate he shares with Queen Camilla.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the 76-year-old monarch, who insiders tell us is losing his battle against cancer, was warned of a sighting near the royal residence in Tetbury after a dog walker reported seeing a black panther cornering a fox at dusk. The animal was only driven away when the walker's dogs startled it, leaving the fox to escape unharmed – and locals have dubbed it "The Beast of Highgrove."
A Black Panther Appears
Charles is reportedly shaken by a panther sighting near Highgrove House.
A local source said: "The King takes enormous comfort in the countryside, and Highgrove is his sanctuary; the idea of a predator lurking so close unsettles him deeply. "
He already has enough to contend with in terms of his health, and this has added an extra layer of worry."
Another insider claimed: "There is concern for the safety of staff, visitors, and animals on the estate. It is the last thing the king needs at the moment."
Big cat expert Rick Minter, who runs a podcast documenting sightings of the beasts, has been investigating the encounter.
He said: "A dog walker near Tetbury watched a black panther cornering a fox at dusk."
Her three big dogs were on leads, but they rumbled the cat, which rushed away, and the fox emerged from its trapped situation and left the area, keeping close to the walker and her dogs, seemingly wanting their company for safe escort."
The incident has raised concerns for staff, visitors, and animals at Highgrove.
Minter has linked the Highgrove incident to similar reports across Gloucestershire of a black predator on the prowl.
He noted a sighting north of Stroud in which a witness observed a dark-colored feline moving through woodland while stalking deer.
"The person noticed an orange hue to the animal's otherwise dark fur," he said, adding it "suggests it was a leopard in its black form – as most credible panther sightings appear to be."
Other encounters have been reported along the M5 road in England.
Minter said: "In May, a driver claimed to have seen a black panther lurking in the scrub by the M5 motorway verge in south Gloucestershire. In following it up, I found that the neighboring farm at that spot reported that its cattle had been on edge and were behaving nervously for a few days around the time of the sighting."
'Playing Their Part As Predators'
A dog walker claimed a black panther cornered a fox near the royal estate.
The animal expert is currently curating an exhibition at the Nature in Art gallery in Gloucester, Depicting Britain's Beasts: The Art of British Big Cats, which explores the role these predators may now play in local ecosystems.
He said: "No doubt they mainly originate from discarded trophy pets, but they now seem to be playing their part as predators in the ecosystem."
Among other things, the exhibition showcases the big cats' feeding habits on natural prey like deer with tooth marks on bones as evidence."
The Highgrove sighting is not the only recent brush between celebrities and mysterious big cats.
Earlier this year, a panther-like animal was reportedly spotted near Ed Sheeran's Suffolk estate, which the 32-year-old singer shares with his wife Cherry Seaborn, 31, and their two daughters.
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Experts believe the animal could be a black leopard roaming Gloucestershire.
Matt Salusbury, who runs the Big Cats of Suffolk website, said: "The witness told me they'd seen a large black animal walking up and down along the tree line at the end of a field behind their garden.
"They observed it for more than five minutes before it sat down with its head up."
