King Charles III, the Monarch’s 75th Birthday

This week on Tuesday 14 November was King Charles III 75^th Birthday, marking his second 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.

The United Kingdom Royal Mint have 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.

Britain's King Charles III celebrated his 75th birthday a day earlier with a three-story cake and a party held in his honour. The celebration took place at the royal estate in Highgrove, in southwest England. The party was attended by members of the National Health Service, representatives of various organizations and representatives of local municipalities also reaching the age of 75.

Charles III hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace in honour of nurses and midwives, as part of the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the National Health System.

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

I also read reports that there were cannon salutes which reverberated in the capital in honour of the British King’s birthday.

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.

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)

The reports show that King Charles III had a busy week for his birthday, and it will be interesting to follow the “Coronation Food Project” and hope this urgent problem of food waste and food poverty can be reduced.

Happy 75^th Birthday King Charles III, three cheers for the King.

Betty Matthews

17 November 2023