King Charles celebrates his birthday twice every year, once in June with a parade known as Trooping the Colour and once in November, on his actual birthday. His real birthday celebrations have already begun; the king, who turns 75 tomorrow, held a party at Highgrove House today, hosted by the King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust), to celebrate other organizations and individuals turning 75.
The King made the first cut into his three-tier birthday cake, created by Jan Blackmore from Buttercup Pantry, and urged his guests to try a slice. "Who can I donate it to? Can we get rid of it? We need to give you doggie bags," he said with a laugh. At the party, a rock choir also performed.
Highgrove House is already decorated for Christmas, and guests of the birthday include local residents who were nominated by friends and family, Jay Blades, a King's Foundation ambassador (formerly the Prince's Foundation) and pioneering members from the Windrush Generation, who were painted in the "Windrush: Portraits of a Pioneering Generation" project, commissioned by King Charles to mark the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush.
King Charles will spend his actual birthday just as a normal day, launching the Coronation Food Project alongside Queen Camilla and hosting a Buckingham Palace reception for nurses and midwives. He'll have a private birthday dinner at Clarence House in the evening, which his son, Prince Harry, was not invited to, according to the Duke's spokesperson.
Camilla once shared that her husband is hard to get birthday presents for. "I will tell you that he is the most difficult person in the world to buy a present for," she said a decade ago, ahead of his 65th birthday. "He is a man! They are hopeless! I spend ages trying to find something that is really wonderful and then [imitating Charles], 'Oh, thank you very much.' It is so annoying. So he likes to make a list of things that he wants so you get it exactly right. I find this time of year impossible as it's his birthday and then it's Christmas… Everybody else is easy, but he is not!"
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
