King Charles to open two new food hubs as he celebrates 76th birthday

14 November 2024, 05:42

The King will spend his 76th birthday opening two new hubs to provide support to food banks, schools and community centres.

In a working birthday for King Charles, he will visit one hub in South London before opening the other Merseyside location via video link.

This comes following a year Prince William described as “brutal” as both the King and Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.

The monarch will open the first two Coronation Food Hubs on the first anniversary of the launch of his Coronation Food Project, designed to bridge the gap between food need and food waste in the UK amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Read more: King Charles walks red carpet alone as he appears without Queen Camilla at Gladiator II premiere

Since being launched the project has provided as many as 2.2 million meals.

The monarch will travel to Deptford, south London, to unveil the first hub and visit a surplus food festival alongside Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Queen Camilla will sit this visit out, as she continues to recover from a chest infection.

It comes after Charles walked the red carpet alone for the global premiere of Gladiator II on Wednesday.

The King, in black tie, walked the carpet on the eve of his birthday, meeting stars Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal at the glitzy event.

On Wednesday afternoon, he hosted a special celebrity reception at Buckingham Palace in honour of the UK's film and television industry, where he and Camilla, who attended for part of the event, chatted with a host of famous faces including actors Damian Lewis, Emily Mortimer and Lucien Laviscount, and Gladiator director Sir Ridley Scott.

Charles, like his late mother Elizabeth II, has two birthdays, his actual one on November 14, and his official one, which falls on the second Saturday in June.

Since 1748, the monarch's official birthday has been marked by the parade known as Trooping the Colour, which was usually held on the king or queen's actual birthday.

Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, was born in the month of November.

But he celebrated officially in May or June because there was less chance of it being cold and drizzly during the outdoor event.

Charles's grandfather George VI, who was born in December, reintroduced the idea, and the late Queen Elizabeth II continued it, as has the King.

Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was welcomed into the world on November 14 1948 at Buckingham Palace, the first child of the future Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.