Ahead of The King’s 75th birthday tomorrow, His Majesty was the guest of honour at a special celebratory event at Highgrove.
The event was hosted by The King’s Foundation, which recently underwent a name change to reflect His Majesty’s accession.
The King attended a 75th birthday celebration at Highgrove. (Royal Family)
Charles was not the only guest in attendance who is turning 75 this year – the focus of the event was also to recognise individuals and organisations who are celebrating the same birthday or milestone, to thank them for their contributions to the local community.
The celebration also marked other 75th anniversaries taking place this year, including Windrush 75 and the NHS’s 75th birthday.
The King was welcomed to his party by a choir singing ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen, and was presented with a cup of tea, before he joined guests for a chat.
Taking place in the Orchard Room, guests listened to members of the Rock Choir performing hits and 14-year-old local musician Bill Goulding, who is a regular performer at The King’s Gloucestershire residence; Goulding played a variety of tunes, including his special birthday composition for the Monarch, on the piano.
Jay Blades was also in attendance. (Royal Family)
Among the guests was The Repair Shop‘s Jay Blade, who has struck up a friendship with His Majesty through their mutual love of antiques and restoration. Jay attended the Coronation earlier this year and the pair also appeared on the hour-long special The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.
The presenter paid tribute to the Monarch, stating: ‘He’s the new King but he’s also about community, he’s always been about community, always been forward thinking about what we’re doing about the environment but also including community members’.
Such a funny video of The King cutting his (pre) birthday cake and listening to what will no doubt be the first of many renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’ over the next day or so. I particularly love the mock-horror eye-roll! He genuinely hates a fuss about these things! pic.twitter.com/qwnFchGAQA
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) November 13, 2023
The event concluded with a rendition of Happy Birthday, much to His Majesty’s delight, who was seen rolling his eyes in embarrassment to the charity.
Charles cut a three-tier cake, after hesitating which layer to cut first before deciding on the bottom tier. Peering inside to have a look at the Victoria sponge, he said ‘it’s always fun to have a look,’ before encouraging his guests to eat the cake up. He then commented ‘Who can I donate it to? Can we get rid of it? We need to give you doggie bags’.
French chef, Raymond Blanc, was also in attendance also spoke highly of The King noting that ‘he has been campaigning for 50 years on environmental and social issues that are vital for our communities and our planet,’ he said. ‘What he has done is extraordinary.’
Blanc added: ‘He is a crusader and I hope the Government will give him a little bit more room to express himself. I am a French republican and I have the utmost respect for what he has done.’
The Michelin-starred chef has been working to help The King’s Foundation’s in educating young people about food, revealed he has agreed to become an ambassador for the charity.
The main event to mark The King’s 75th birthday tomorrow will take place at Clarence House, with the launch of the Coronation Food Project.
The project will see eight food hubs launched across the nation, with the first four opening in London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Northern Ireland, to help tackle food waste. Charles is choosing to focus on this issue as the UK throws away more food than any other European country.
