King Charles III, the Monarch’s Birthday

This week on Thursday 14 November was King Charles III 76^th Birthday, marking his third birthday as monarch. King Charles III was born on 14 November 1948. Prior to his accession to the throne, King Charles III was the United Kingdom’s longest-serving heir apparent in history.

In October 2024, His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla visited Australia on a short Royal Tour before attending Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024, in Samoa. As King, he is head of the Commonwealth association of 56 nations globally.

In February 2024, it was announced that King Charles was treated for cancer, and due to His Royal Highness health concerns, this Royal tour was shortened to only Canberra and Sydney in Australia.

Their Majesties visit Australia was from 18 to 23 October 2024. This was The King’s first visit to Australia as Sovereign, and the first visit to Australia by a reigning monarch since 2011. His Majesty’s most recent visit occurred in 2018, when he opened the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III has now visited Australia 16 times, 15 of which he either accompanied or represented his mother, the Late Queen Elizabeth II. These visits took place in 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1994, 2005, 2012, 2015 and 2018.

https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/head-of-state/2024-royal-visit/king-and-queens-previous-visits-australia

Last year, the United Kingdom Royal Mint released a “Five Pound Coin” to celebrate King Charles III 75th Birthday. These coins were issued on 6 November 2023 in cupro-nickel, also limited coins were released in Silver and Gold.

Here are a couple of extracts from news items and the web page links, the first is details about the “Five Pound Coin” and other is about the “Coronation Food Project”.

Five Pounds 2023 King Charles III 75th Birthday, Coin from United Kingdom - Online Coin Club

Five Pounds 2023 King Charles III 75th Birthday,

Coin from United Kingdom

The Mint says about this coin:
Just six months after his coronation, His Majesty King Charles III will celebrate his 75th birthday on 14 November 2023. In honour of this landmark anniversary, The Royal Mint has produced a beautifully designed coin that pays tribute to His Majesty’s dearest passions and interests.

The obverse of the coin displays the first definitive portrait of King Charles III, which shows his bare (uncrowned) head facing left.

Below the neck truncation in tiny letters, the artist's initials MJ (for Martin Jennings).

Around, the monarch's legend followed by the face value and date of issue: CHARLES III · D · G · REX · F · D · 5 POUNDS · 2023 ·. Translated from Latin, the legend means: Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, King, Defender of the Faith.

The reverse design of the coin is "a numismatic tribute to His Majesty" and combines traditional heraldic imagery with subtle references to his passions.

The design features The King’s heraldic badge (his monogram C III R - for Charles III Rex, crowned with the Tudor Crown), accompanied by the number 75 below, to mark his milestone birthday, all framed within oak leaves and delphiniums. The oak leaves represent strength, morale, resistance and knowledge, whilst his favourite garden flowers - delphiniums - reflect his love of nature. A variety of insects are also present in various places around the foliage.

Around above, the inscription HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES III. Around below, the years of his birth, 1948 and of his 75th birthday, 2023.

The designer's initials DT (for Dan Thorne) are in small letters above the 3 in 2023.

In 2023, King Charles III officially launched the 'Coronation Food Project', a new scheme to tackle food poverty and cut down on waste.

King Charles celebrates 75th birthday by launching new food project (msn.com)

His Majesty King Charles III used the birthday celebration occasion to launch a new scheme to tackle food poverty and cut down on waste. The King, who has spent more than five decades as an outspoken campaigner on environmental issues and supporter of a sustainable economy, will officially launch the 'Coronation Food Project', his mission to try to stop people going hungry.

"Food need is as real and urgent a problem as food waste - and if a way could be found to bridge the gap between them, then it would address two problems in one," Charles wrote in an article for the "Big Issue", a magazine which is usually sold by homeless people.

"It is my great hope that this ‘Coronation Food Project’ will find practical ways to do just that - rescuing more surplus food and distributing it to those who need it most."

With his wife, Queen Camilla, Charles will spend his birthday visiting a surplus food distribution centre. He will meet major British supermarkets to see how his project can help redistribute food which would otherwise go to waste.

The project says 14 million people in Britain face food insecurity, and as the rising cost of living has pushed even more into food poverty, charities say there has been a 38% rise in those using food banks for the first time in the year to March 2023.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by William James)

It will be interesting to follow the King Charles III “Coronation Food Project” and hope this urgent problem of food waste and food poverty can be reduced.

Here are a few photographs of His Royal Highness, King Charles III, some from his Coronation in May 2023 and recent 2024 Royal Tour and other official portraits which are available for use as editorials, photographs credited as follows: Photograph by Millie Pilkington 2024.

Happy 76^th Birthday King Charles III, three cheers for the King

Betty Matthews

15 November 2024