Prince Charles Celebrates His 73rd Birthday As He Prepares For Royal Visit

Nov 14, 2021 by apost team

Prince Charles turns 73 on Nov. 14 after a particularly somber year for the future king, which included his father Prince Philip passing away in April. Following a period of mourning, the royal worked remotely due to the pandemic before resuming royal duties in-person earlier this summer after the easing of restrictions in the UK. Since then he's been busy with work and charitable causes. 

This month, mere days after his birthday, Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will embark on their first royal trip in two years when they visit Jordan and Egypt in order to help promote religious tolerance. Other highlights of the trip will include discussing climate change and the importance of girls' education.

It's still unclear how Charles will be celebrating his birthday this year. Last year, amid the pandemic, the prince kept things quiet as he spent his birthday in Berlin, after traveling to Germany in order to attend the Central Remembrance Ceremony, which commemorated the country's National Day of Mourning. He gave a speech at the event and was the first British Royal to ever attend.

After receiving birthday wishes last year from fellow royals and the public alike, the royal did share a photo of himself in a gorgeous autumnal setting as he gave thanks on Twitter. Charles wore a green kilt and posed among trees and shrubs with red, orange and yellow leaves in the photo, while the post caption read:

"Thank you for all the well wishes on The Prince of Wales’s 72nd Birthday!"

However, Charles' 71st birthday in 2019 was a much bigger affair, as he was on a royal tour of India at the time with Camilla. Back then, The Telegraph reported that the prince spent his special day in Mumbai visiting with children whose education is partially funded by his British Asian Trust. 

The Prince was gifted bonsai trees depicting mythical scenes by the children, and they all shared a chocolate cake together. Charles wrapped up his trip to India with a special floral garland send-off, and a Namaste gesture when given a flower by a little boy. 

Although he'll be in the UK on the date of his actual birthday this year, Charles and Camilla will be leaving for the Middle East just two days later. They will first head to Jordan to honor the country's centenary, which happens to also coincide with 100 years of the UK and Jordan's bilateral relationship. There they will be formally welcomed by King Abdullah II and his wife, Queen Rania, at Al Husseiniya Palace.

In an official statement from the Prince of Wales, he outlined the key topics that he and Camilla will each focus on during the visit:

"The Prince will focus on environmental issues, inter-faith dialogue, heritage preservation and the creation of jobs and opportunities for young people. The Duchess will continue her commitment to supporting women, as well as girls’ education."

Furthermore, the couple "will also visit a number of sites of cultural, religious and environmental significance across the country." They will spend three days in Jordan before moving on to Egypt.

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In Egypt, Charles and Camilla will "highlight the country’s close relationship with the UK, and will provide an opportunity to demonstrate Egypt’s growing commitment to protecting the environment," according to the couple's press release. The trip comes soon after the UK hosted the COP26, while Egypt will be hosting the COP27 in 2022. The official statement added:

"The Prince has a deep and longstanding interest in these issues, and will be taking the opportunity to discuss how we best work together to combat climate change."

While in Egypt, Charles and Camilla will be met by President Sisi and First Lady Entissar Amer at Al-Ittihadiya Palace. The couple hasn't visited the country since 2006, although they were both more recently in Jordan — Charles' last visit was in 2015 while Camilla's was in 2013.

As always, it is expected that other royals will publicly wish Prince Charles a happy birthday via social media. However, last year was the first year that his son Prince Harry didn't publicly wish him well, since he and Meghan Markle no longer have an official Instagram account.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did, however, wish Prince Charles a very happy 71st birthday when they posted a heartwarming black-and-white photo that showed three generations of men in the family. This included Charles, Harry and baby Archie. The gorgeous photo was captioned:

"Happy birthday to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales - Sir, Pa, Grandpa!"

We wish Prince Charles a very happy 73rd birthday today and may he enjoy his first royal trip in two years to the Middle East!

What would you say to Prince Charles as he celebrates his 73rd birthday? Pass this on to any royal fans you know so they can pass on their good wishes too!