The King was in party mood as he was handed a cup of tea and chatted with guests. Photo / Getty Images
The King raised his eyes heavenwards in mock embarrassment as he was serenaded at a tea party on the eve of his 75th birthday.
Charles joined a host of fellow 75-year-olds for the celebration, which included live music from a local rock choir and afternoon tea, in the Orchard Room at his Highgrove home.
He arrived at the party just as the choir was playing Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, one of his favoured artists, whose “extraordinary” lyrics he once described as “very moving”.
The King, who turns 75 on Tuesday, was immediately presented with a cup of tea before joining guests for a natter.
Later, there was a rousing version of Happy Birthday, before the King waved a knife aloft and said: “Thank you very much.”
“Who can I donate it to? Can we get rid of it? We need to give you doggie bags,” he laughed.
Special guests
The party guests included Jay Blades, The Repair Shop presenter, as well as sitters from the Windrush: Portraits of a Pioneering Generation project, commissioned by the King to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush to the UK.
Blades, an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, paid tribute to Charles, saying: “He’s the new King but he’s also about community, he’s always been about community, always been forward thinking about what we’re doing about the environment but also including community members.
“So to have this group of people here, that’s just unbelievable – that’s part of him, that’s what he does.”
Also among the guests was Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc, 73, who hailed the monarch a “crusader”.
Blanc, who has recently become an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, said: “He has been campaigning for 50 years on environmental and social issues that are vital for our communities and our planet. What he has done is extraordinary.
“He is a crusader and I hope the Government will give him a little bit more room to express himself.”
He added: “I am a French republican and I have the utmost respect for what he has done.”
Other guests, all of whom were born in 1948, applied to attend via a ballot and were invited in recognition of their contributions to their local communities.
Edna Henry, one of those who sat for portraits of the Windrush generation, congratulated Charles on turning 75.
“I said to him I’m hoping he is going to give me a card for 100. He said: ‘I’ll do my best.’”
An original composition was created for the occasion by 14-year-old Bill Goulding, a local gardening enthusiast who regularly visits Highgrove Gardens.
The King has chosen to use his birthday to highlight causes close to his heart.
The event brought people together to celebrate their 75th birthdays and recognise their contributions to the community.
The celebration also marked other 75th anniversaries taking place this year, including Windrush 75 and the NHS’s 75th anniversary. pic.twitter.com/MIO6R5EGTc
Charles, who will still receive his daily red boxes full of policy papers, Foreign Office messages, letters and other state papers on his big day, will also spend his anniversary carrying out public engagements.
First, he will visit a surplus food distribution centre with the Queen, 76, to officially launch the Coronation Food Project, which aims to tackle food poverty by redistributing produce destined for landfills.
Then later, he will host a reception at Buckingham Palace for 400 nurses and midwives, as part of this year’s NHS 75 celebrations, where he will be treated to a surprise birthday song by the NHS choir.
Gun salutes will sound in Green Park and the Tower of London in the capital, and across the UK.
On Tuesday evening, Charles’ nearest and dearest are expected to gather at Clarence House for a birthday dinner in his honour.
Camilla once admitted that her husband was particularly hard to buy gifts for.
“I will tell you that he is the most difficult person in the world to buy a present for … So he likes to make a list of things that he wants so you get it exactly right,” she said.
He likes “a cake and a bit of a sing-song”, she acknowledged, but said it was difficult to get her workaholic husband to take a break.
Last week, at an engagement in New Malden, Kingston upon Thames, the King joked that he was finding it hard to forget his fast-approaching birthday.
John Azah, CEO of Kingston Race and Equalities Council, wished the King a happy birthday for next week. “How did you know?” came the reply. “I can’t escape.”
When he turned 70 in 2018, Charles referred to his birthday as “alarming” and joked he had “all the scars that go with” his age.