Buckingham Palace released a new photo of the king on Friday, marking what would have been Charles III’s 77th birthday.
The image, taken by photographer Millie Pilkington in May, shows Charles in the gardens of Norfolk’s Sandringham Estate, with his expansive stately home in the background.
Other photos, believed to have been taken at the same time, show him wandering around Sandringham’s gardens, tending to maple saplings. They were published in Country Life magazine on Wednesday to commemorate Charles’ restoration of the historic garden.
On Friday, Camilla and Duchess attended a reception at Cyfarthfa Castle, about 40 kilometers north of the Welsh capital Cardiff, where they cut into a giant birthday cake in the shape of a castle.
He then officially opened the South Wales Underground depot, briefly sitting in the driver’s seat of one of the new trams and greeting members of the public who had been waiting outside in the rain for his arrival. Meanwhile, gun salutes were fired in London near Green Park and Tower Bridge.
The arrival of the autumn rains highlighted why the British monarch often celebrates two birthdays – one of which is ‘official’ and commemorated by a Trooping the Color parade.
It is held in the summer and sees 1,400 officers and soldiers parade across London on a crowd-lined route from Buckingham Palace to Horseguards Parade.
The tradition of monarchs enjoying two birthdays is thought to have started with King George II in 1748. Like Charles, he was also born in November.
It’s been a difficult few weeks for Charles. In late October, she took the unusual step of stripping her younger brother Andrew of his royal title in an effort to quell the scandal surrounding his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal overshadowed a historic moment in early October when Prince Charles visited the Vatican and met with Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first British monarch in at least 500 years to pray publicly with a pope.
Prince Charles has continued to balance his royal duties with his ongoing cancer treatment since being diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in early 2024.
