King Charles marks 76th birthday at 'surplus food festival'

LONDON -

King Charles III will mark his 76th birthday on Thursday by opening two food distribution hubs, as part of his Coronation Food Project that he launched a year ago in the hopes of bridging the gap between food poverty and food waste.

Charles visited one of the new hubs in south London, which is hosting a “surplus food festival” where meals will be made using food that might otherwise have gone to waste. He was due to open the second Coronation Food Hub in Merseyside in northwest England, in a virtual ceremony.

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During the visit, the King was joined by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to tour the new facility before meeting beneficiaries and representatives of food banks, schools and community groups.

In addition to investing in a network of hubs, the King’s Coronation Food Project is also adding capacity to warehouses, boosting cold storage facilities and funding transport and drivers to bolster distribution capacity. To date, £15 million (nearly US$19 million) has been raised to design, build and run a network of up to 10 hubs across the United Kingdom.

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Since it was launched, the food project has worked with local charities FareShare and the Felix Project, and saved 940 tons of surplus food - the equivalent of 2.2 million meals. It has also given £715,000 (nearly $1 million) in community food grants to 33 U.K. organizations.

Buckingham Palace also released a new photograph of the King in honour of his big day.

In the snap shared on the Royal Family’s official X account, the monarch is smiling at the camera in a sharp blue suit, white shirt and blue patterned tie and pocket square. The caption alongside the post reads, “Wishing His Majesty The King a very Happy Birthday today.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales also offered their best wishes in a post on social media, writing, “Wishing a very Happy Birthday to His Majesty The King!” The message was accompanied by a photograph of Charles taken during his recent overseas tour to Samoa on his first visit as head of the Commonwealth.

The military’s traditional celebrations for the sovereign’s birthday means that gun salutes will be fired in Green Park by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company. Meanwhile, the bells of Westminster Abbey will be rung from 1 p.m. (8 a.m. ET).

King Charles treats his actual birthday in November like a normal working day, but the bonus of being the monarch means that he actually gets two.

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The tradition is believed to have started with the party-mad King George II in 1748. He was, like Charles, was born in November when British weather is often far from ideal.

The sovereign’s “official” birthday is held during the warmer summer months when the Trooping the Colour military spectacles sees 1,400 officers and soldiers process through the streets of London from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guard’s Parade, while crowds line the route.

Trooping the Colour had previously existed as a standalone event but was officially and permanently re-purposed as a birthday celebration after George III became King in 1760.