New photo released for King's 77th birthday
- Published
A new photograph of King Charles marking his 77th birthday has been issued by Buckingham Palace.
The picture, taken by Millie Pilkington, shows the King at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk, holding a shepherd's crook.
It was published on social media with a balloon emoji and the message: "77 today! Thank you for the kind words and well wishes on His Majesty's Birthday."
King Charles is spending his birthday in South Wales accompanied by Queen Camilla, where their engagements will include meeting Ruth Jones, star of the BBC's Gavin and Stacey.
The king also appeared in pictures for this week's Country Life magazine
It's not known if the King would agree that celebrating his birthday with the actress who played Nessa was "tidy".
There will be a reception at Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, which is celebrating its own 200th anniversary, where there are plans for a birthday cake for the King.
The visit to South Wales comes at the same time as Storm Claudia, which is forecast to bring heavy rain.
It's been a stormy few weeks for the royals too, with the removal of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's title and his status as prince, over links to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has cast a shadow over what otherwise has been a busy autumn schedule for the King, with the state visit by US President Donald Trump, the King's historic meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican and this week's annual Remembrance events.
The trip to South Wales is a sign of the King's determination to keep working, even though he is still receiving regular cancer treatment.
Although this is only the third year of his reign, Charles at the age of 77 is now in fifth place in the longest-lived British monarchs.
He recently overtook George II, who in 1760 died a few days short of his 77th birthday.
The longest living monarchs were Elizabeth II, Victoria, George III and Edward VIII - who abdicated in 1936.
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