Royal news live: King Charles celebrates milestone birthday as Palace unveils regal portrait and sweet tribute
A new portrait of the King was unveiled to mark the monarch’s 76th birthday
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Your support makes all the difference.The King has celebrated his 76th birthday by visiting a food distribution hub as part of his drive to support charities feeding the nation.
A smiling Charles appeared on good form as he arrived at the Deptford Trading Estate in south London for the engagement, without the Queen who is recovering from a chest infection.
Charles was opening the first Coronation Food Hub at the Deptford site, and a second one in Knowsley, Merseyside, virtually.
Volunteers from the Felix Project, who were dressed in the charity’s signature green, clapped and cheered the monarch and waved flags as he stepped from his Bentley.
The Royal Family wished the King a happy birthday, with the Prince and Princess of Wales sharing a candid photo of him in Samoa wearing sunglasses and a floral garland around his neck.
A congratulatory message with a more formal portrait of the King standing in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace was also unveiled online.
William and Kate’s account shared an image of Charles in the sunshine during his recent long-haul overseas trip to Samoa as he was opening The King’s Garden at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in Apia.
The message read: “Wishing a very Happy Birthday to His Majesty The King!”
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The hidden message in Kate’s Remembrance Sunday outfit
The Princess of Wales wore a traditionally sombre black outfit as she appeared at the Cenotaph war memorial for Remembrance Sunday.
Kate’s diamond and pearl drop earrings belonged to the late Queen and she wore her silver Queen’s Dragoon Guards brooch – in a nod to her role as the regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief – beneath three red poppies.
Some have suggested that each poppy represents a different branch of the military, while others have said that a cluster of flowers is simply more visible than a single one.
Another theory speculates Kate wears the poppy trio to honour her great-grandmother’s three brothers, who died in the First World War.
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Lexie Pallett, 16, marched with the charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which supports hundreds of bereaved military children and young people.
Lexie, who also marched in 2022, said: “I’m immensely proud of me being here today, but I’m also proud of the fact that I’m here to honour my dad and honour the things that he did while he was in service.”
Her father Sergeant Oliver Pallett died in 2020 by suicide and Lexie joined the charity two months later.
Throughout her time at Scotty’s, Lexie and her family have been supported through respite breaks, emotional bereavement support, group events and grants to help towards their education and development.
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King to mark 76th birthday by opening food distribution hubs
The King will open two hubs designed to save and circulate tonnes of surplus food as he marks his 76th birthday.
The opening of the distribution centres will also mark the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project, an initiative to support charities feeding the nation with unwanted food.
Charles, who celebrates his birthday on Thursday, will open the initiative’s first two Coronation Food Hubs – one in person and one virtually.
It is hoped the hubs will help charities like FareShare and the Felix Project to support communities in need.
The hub the King is visiting will host a “surplus food festival”, with meals created from food which would otherwise have gone to waste.
Charles will tour the new facility, meeting beneficiaries and representatives of food banks, schools and community groups.
William to carry out duties with ‘smaller r in the royal’
The Prince of Wales has defined his role as heir to the throne, saying he wants to carry out his duties with a “smaller r in the royal”.
William spelled out his philosophy at the end of a major visit to South Africa where he mixed the informal with traditional elements of the monarchy, and said he was trying to do things “differently” and wanted to be a prince for his “generation”.
The future king said what mattered to him was “impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening, and helping people” and stressed “empathy” was also important “because I really care about what I do”.
He said he hoped to carry out overseas tours with the Princess of Wales, who this autumn returned to royal duties after completing a course of cancer treatment.
The hidden message in Kate’s Remembrance Sunday outfit
The Princess of Wales wore a traditionally sombre black outfit as she appeared at the Cenotaph war memorial for Remembrance Sunday.
Kate’s diamond and pearl drop earrings belonged to the late Queen and she wore her silver Queen’s Dragoon Guards brooch – in a nod to her role as the regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief – beneath three red poppies.
Some have suggested that each poppy represents a different branch of the military, while others have said that a cluster of flowers is simply more visible than a single one.
Another theory speculates Kate wears the poppy trio to honour her great-grandmother’s three brothers, who died in the First World War.
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