Happy birthday, Your Majesty. The King turns 75 today but the celebrations will be muted: Charles is spending the day launching the Coronation Food Project, which is designed to deal with the pressing issue of food shortages throughout the country. He’ll also be hosting a reception for NHS nurses and midwives. For a monarch who has been accused of taking it easy (there was an extended summer break in Scotland), this represents a riposte to his critics. Charles is once again seeking to present himself as a dutiful, committed monarch, getting on with the business of ruling. Yet it is Charles’s private life – particularly his relationship with Prince Harry – that continues to excite most attention and has done since his accession to the throne.
Charles’s relationship with his younger son has been viewed as one of near-total estrangement for a considerable time, and even Harry’s presence at the Coronation – dignified and uncontroversial though it undoubtedly was – was a token one; it was briefed that there was no reconciliatory meeting between father and son before the event, and Harry left immediately afterwards.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in