A CELEBRATION FOR THE KING

As King Charles marks his 76th birthday, we hear how our beloved monarch may take time to reflect on a difficult year and look ahead to a busy, brighter 2025

- REBECCA RUSSELL

King Charles has had a challenging year, punctuated by personal health battles, worries for his family and grappling with not being able to work as hard as he has always done. But, if there is anything the past few weeks have proved, it is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel as he marks his 76th birthday on 14 November and looks ahead to a more joyful 2025.

It was on his recent tour of Australia and Samoa that we got a glimpse of the King back in action — he looked happy and confident, coming across as a modern monarch who is striving to make it clear that the future of any country lies solely in the hands of its people. And last week, he also hosted a reception for Team GB medallists from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games at Buckingham Palace.

This easy approach is proving popular and will no doubt be a driving force going into the next 12 months. Rather like in Robert Hardman’s newly updated book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story in which a close friend of the monarch says “being King is a suit that fits him well”, it is clear that Charles will do all he can to get back to work.