A giant cake, a tea dance… King Charles III celebrates his 75th birthday in the absence of Harry and Meghan

The celebrations will last two days as the ceremony is very grandiose. King Charles III continued to celebrate his 75th birthday in the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

The party started on Monday with “afternoon tea”, a tea dance with a giant cake in the gardens of Highgrove, in the west of England, where he had created an organic farm where local residents were randomly selected from all those, like him, born in 1948 year.

On Tuesday at noon, 41 shots were fired near Buckingham Palace, and an hour later a new salvo of 62 shots was fired from the Tower of London.

As for the rest of the official ceremonies, we will have to wait until June next year, as is tradition for British monarchs, and the Salute to the Flowers parade will be organized during a season more favorable for outdoor activities.

The sovereign’s agenda also includes a number of official obligations. He will visit a food aid distribution center with Queen Camilla to launch a charity project aimed at fighting waste and hunger.

The king, who ascended the throne in September 2022 after the death of his mother Elizabeth II, appears on the front page of homeless magazine Big Issue this week to defend the initiative.

A reception is planned for this afternoon at Buckingham Palace with 400 nurses and midwives invited to mark the 75th anniversary of the public health service, the National Health Service, an institution beloved by Britons but in the midst of a crisis.

On her 65th birthday, Camilla admitted that her husband loved birthday parties because of the “cake and a little song” but was “the hardest person when it comes to gifts”: “So he likes to make a list that he wants us not to make mistakes.

The day is due to end with a private dinner with his loved ones, again without his youngest son Harry, who is in exile in California with his wife Meghan and two children. The 39-year-old duke, who has made harsh remarks about his father and older brother William in recent months, was expected to convey his wishes to the king by telephone, according to the BBC.

The image of a hard worker

Born Prince Charles Philip Arthur George at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, when his mother was still a princess, old King Charles III, with a 52% positive rating according to the YouGov institute, remains far from the enormous popularity of Elizabeth II, despite his strong presence on to the public.

His heir William, who is valued by 69% of Britons, is well ahead of him. But there was no question of handing over Charles directly to him after almost a lifetime of preparation for the throne.

The sovereign appears more dedicated than the late queen, reserved in his opinions on issues such as protecting nature, one of his long-standing battles. So he will travel to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai in early December, where he will give a speech.

The sovereign, who likes to project the image of a hard worker, has marked his three-quarters of a century with a busy schedule, as has his first year on the throne, marked by official visits to Germany, France and Kenya, as well as his coronation. in May last year.

He also spoke about the colonial and slave past of the United Kingdom. During his visit to Nairobi in early November, he said there could be “no justification” for British colonial atrocities committed against Kenyans, without asking for forgiveness, as some have demanded.

“He confronts the most problematic aspects of history in a way that Elizabeth II never would have,” says historian Ed Owens, an expert on the British monarchy. “He is more active than his mother on a diplomatic level, while maintaining a busy schedule to appear as someone committed to his role. »