EDMONTON -- The Royal Family took to social media Saturday to wish Prince Charles a “very happy birthday,” as the prince himself reflected on a difficult and uncertain year.
Buckingham Palace was the first to wish the Prince of Wales well on his 72nd birthday, sharing a photo of him as a baby with his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also wished Prince Charles a happy birthday, sharing a smiling portrait of the prince.
For the third year, Prince Charles continued his tradition of editing County Life magazine in honour of his birthday, sharing a message of hope amid and uncertain and difficult year.
"The country, and the world, have experienced changes we could never have foreseen," Prince Charles wrote.
"Uncertainty has become a steady state; the previously unimaginable has become unexceptional; the extraordinary has become normal. At such a time, it is tempting, and understandable, to focus on the losses, the failures and the challenges. However, if the life of the land teaches anything, it is the need to look at the long term."
In the article, the heir to the throne reflects on the world that lies ahead for his grandchildren – Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 1-year-old son Archie – urging the world not to “betray nature.”
“We have a very short window of opportunity, which must not be squandered, in which to seize something good from this crisis and, as we rebuild, to put Nature, our planet and our children and grandchildren first,” the prince wrote.
The Prince of Wales’ birthday is usually celebrated with gun salutes at the Tower of London. However, ceremonial gunfire has been suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
