King Charles turned 76 on Thursday, November 14, and he is celebrating his birthday by opening two food hubs, which will distribute large volumes of surplus food to schools and community centres. Treating his birthday as a working day, the British monarch will visit a new food hub in South London. A virtual opening ceremony is being held for the other in Merseyside, BBC reported.
The food distribution hubs are a part of his 'Coronation Food Project' designed to cut down on waste and support charities helping those in need and hungry.
In South London, a 'surplus food festival' is being hosted. At the festival, meals are prepared with food, which would have otherwise gone to waste. According to Buckingham Palace, the hubs are designed to support charities, including the Felix Project and FareShare, to collect food and deliver it to individuals and community groups.
This food comes from multiple places such as supermarkets or the catering industry. Instead of throwing good quality unsold food into waste, it is used to help those in need.
During his visit, King Charles is also scheduled to meet some people who benefited from the initiative.
The Buckingham Palace noted the project, so far, has managed to save an additional 940 tonnes of surplus food, equivalent to more than 2.2 million meal portions.
King Charles continues to be treated for cancer, but he wants to keep focusing on his work as well, aides of the Royal Family said.
Besides this, his birthday is being marked more traditionally with gun salutes at the Tower of London as well as in the capital's parks, Reuters reported.
These celebrations come amid a busy week for King Charles, who attended the London premiere of "Gladiator II" on Wednesday night. However, his wife Camilla, recovering from a chest infection, wasn't at the event.
On Tuesday, she attended the Booker Prize awards and said, “I think I'm on the mend - but these things always take a bit of time".
