What Does a Freezer Have to Do with King Charles’ 76th Birthday? Here’s the Unique Way He Will Spend His Big Day

A known workaholic, the King will spend his birthday Nov. 14 highlighting a special project that’s part of his royal work

King Charles turns 76 years old on Nov. 14 — and will mark his first birthday since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

To celebrate turning 76, the King, who has long been known as a workaholic, will spend his big day at work (naturally), opening the first two Coronation Food Hubs, one in person and one virtually, the palace confirms.

Thursday, Nov. 14 also marks the first anniversary of Charles’ Coronation Food Project, which seeks to bridge the gap between food waste and food need across the U.K. The food hubs are major distribution centers designed to save and circulate tons of surplus food.

On Nov. 14, the hub the King is visiting will host a surplus food festival, with meals created from food which would otherwise have gone to waste. Charles will tour the new facility, meeting beneficiaries and representatives of food banks, schools and community groups, according to the palace. The King will also view a newly installed industrial freezer during his visit, which will increase capacity by 400% — significantly improving the ability to preserve more surplus food.

The inaugural two Coronation Food Hubs are the first in a network of hubs, the palace said. The Coronation Food Project has already saved an additional 940 tons of surplus food, equivalent to roughly 2.24 million meal portions, as it reports approximately 14 million people in the U.K. are experiencing food insecurity.

Related: Inside Queen Camilla and King Charles’ Diets, According to Her Cookbook Author Son Tom Parker Bowles

In a piece for The Daily Mail, Charles’ stepson Tom Parker Bowles declared that his stepfather was a “true food hero” who “practices what he preaches,” especially when it comes to food sustainability.

“There is no waste at [King Charles’] table,” Tom said.

Year 75 has no doubt been a challenging one for the King, who, following an inpatient procedure for a benign enlarged prostate in January, was diagnosed with cancer, which the palace announced Feb. 5. The King began treatment for cancer that same day, and that treatment continues.

He was largely away from public-facing duties until April 30, during which time his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton also announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer following an inpatient procedure in January. Though the types and stages of both the King and the Princess of Wales’ respective cancers have never been revealed, the palace did clarify that the King did not have prostate cancer.

Related: Prince William Breaks Silence on 'Brutal' 2024 amid Kate Middleton and King Charles' Cancer Diagnoses: 'Hardest Year in My Life'

“I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” Prince William said in an emotionally-charged Nov. 7 interview. “But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”

The latter half of 2024 has been more on the upswing than the former, with Kate, 42, announcing she had completed chemo on Sept. 9. The next month, Charles and Queen Camilla embarked on a royal tour of both Australia and Samoa, their first royal tour since the King announced his cancer diagnosis and the first tour of this size and scale since Charles’ reign began in September 2022.

The King and Queen were due to have a glamorous date night the evening before Charles’ birthday on Nov. 13, as they were set to attend the premiere of Gladiator II. Camilla, 77, pulled out of the occasion as she continues to recover from a chest infection, announced by the palace on Nov. 5. She missed all Remembrance events that same week, but did attend a planned engagement on Nov. 12 supporting the literary Booker Prize.

The day after his birthday, on Friday, Nov. 15, the King, as Captain General Royal Marines, will visit the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) at Lympstone in Devon to meet Royal Marine trainees and instructors, as well as families and veterans of the Corps. Charles will present the King’s Badge and a Green Beret to the best all-around member of the King’s Squad as they complete Commando Training, and Charles will have a flashback to his days as a helicopter pilot, as he’ll get the chance to revisit some of the facilities where he trained to take on the job.

Last year, for his milestone 75th birthday, Buckingham Palace marked the occasion with a 41-gun salute by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and the Tower of London gave the monarch a 62-gun salute. He also took part in a reception at Buckingham Palace with NHS nurses and midwives and had a party at Highgrove House with individuals who had done good work in their local communities. There was also a small, private gathering at Clarence House, the home he shares with Camilla, to pay homage to the milestone.

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While his 76th will be more low-key, Charles has had his fair share of big birthdays in the past. For his 21st birthday in 1969, the royal was given an Aston Martin DB6 Volante convertible from his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and for his 30th in 1977 was thrown a party in Buckingham Palace where — deep in the disco era — he was serenaded by the Three Degrees, specifically their song “Givin’ Up, Givin’ In,” which Tatler reported Charles said gave him “an irresistible urge to get up and dance” as recently as 2021. For his milestone 50th birthday in 1998, 850 guests attended his birthday party, minus one person who many would assume to have been in attendance — the former Camilla Parker Bowles. (According to Tatler, the two celebrated privately later at Highgrove.)

For his 70th birthday in 2018, another party was thrown at Buckingham Palace, and Queen Elizabeth said at the occasion, “It is a privilege for any mother to be able to propose a toast to her son on his 70th birthday. It means that you have lived long enough to see your child grow up. It is rather like, to use an analogy I am certain will find favor, planting a tree and being able to watch it grow.”