Tuesday 75 – and the King celebrates at a ‘food bank’! How times have changed since he was 21 when his mother gave him a shiny Aston Martin…
For King Charles’ 21st birthday in 1969, his mother gave him a convertible Aston Martin DB6 Volante sports car, the perfect gift for the dashing young bachelor in town.
But times – and people – are changing, and on Tuesday he will celebrate his 75th birthday in a much more thoughtful way: he will visit a surplus food distribution center to launch a plan to support those who need help during the cost crisis of livelihood.
The King may be having a small family dinner at Clarence House, but the deliberately low-key nature of his schedule symbolizes how much his life has changed from a flashy young prince to a modern monarch. And his celebrations over the decades also reflect how much Britain has evolved in his lifetime.
His first birthday, in 1949, was marked by a studio portrait taken by a photographer born in 1875, when Benjamin Disraeli was Prime Minister and the FA Cup final was contested by the Royal Engineers and a team of Old Etonians.
When he turned thirty in 1978, that sedate world seemed an eternity away. Charles threw a birthday party at Buckingham Palace with entertainment provided by his favorite musicians, the glamorous American disco trio The Three Degrees.
On Tuesday, King Charles will celebrate his 75th birthday in a much more thoughtful way: visiting a surplus food distribution center to launch a plan to support those who need help during the cost of living crisis.
The then Prince Charles (right) in Windsor for a polo match, UK, June 13, 1971
For King Charles’s 21st birthday in 1969, his mother gave him a convertible Aston Martin DB6 Volante sports car
Then the Prince, the most eligible bachelor in the world, jumped on stage to dance with the singers. Many years later, one of the group, Sheila Ferguson, said that Charles had subsequently sent her letters, but explained: “I didn’t want to be an exception to his bedpost.”
The party left a lasting impression on Charles. In 2021, he confessed that the trio’s hit Givin’ Up, Givin’ In “used to give me an irresistible urge to get up and dance.”
Charles also celebrated his 31st birthday with pop royalty, with Shirley Bassey singing Happy Birthday to him. But the king’s musical tastes have matured and he now professes a love for the works of Wagner and Handel.
The Three Degrees won’t help him celebrate this week. Instead, the King has invited a local rock choir to provide live music at afternoon tea in Highgrove on the eve of his birthday. Even his attitude to the 21st anniversary sports car – which also played a key role in William and Kate’s wedding – has changed.
Originally running at an environmentally unfriendly 14 miles per gallon, it has been modified to run on a biofuel made from excess English wine and whey, a byproduct of cheese making. Charles’s 50th birthday in 1998 was also a lavish affair, when 850 guests, including actors Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson, and his favorite comedian, Spike Milligan, were invited to Buckingham Palace for a champagne-filled party.
The now king pictured with his tiered birthday cake at his 40th birthday party during the launch of his Prince’s Youth Business Trust in Birmingham
A young King Charles in one of the state rooms of Buckingham Palace on his eighth birthday
The late queen toasted her son and celebrated his “diligence, compassion and leadership.” He replied, “Mama… I don’t know how you put up with me.”
Conspicuously absent from the guest list that evening was Camilla Parker Bowles, a disapproving man who was said to be an open demonstration of Her Late Majesty’s aversion to the disclosure of the relationship between her son and his companion, just a year after Princess’s death Diana.
Charles instead celebrated separately with Camilla in Highgrove.
Now, 25 years later, his birthday has been marred by fresh criticism as Prince Harry claims ‘there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday’.
But Queen Camilla, the woman with whom he has had a love affair for forty years, will be at the center of the festivities.
And maybe the presents won’t be as extravagant as a sports car… but he should at least do better than he was at 70, when a group of royal correspondents presented him with their gift: a can of squirrel repellent.