King Charles is celebrating his 78th birthday today. While his official celebration will take place next summer, with the Royal Family gathering on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour, the Monarch will likely spend his special day in private with his loved ones.
Although he has remained tight-lipped about birthday plans, one thing is certain: King Charles will enjoy a splendid meal using only fresh and seasonal ingredients from his garden.
Former head chef reveals the King's diet
The royal's former head chef, Visen Anenden, revealed that the King strictly follows a farm-to-table, organic, and seasonal diet, eating only produce that is naturally at its peak in the UK. After describing his time cooking for the then Prince of Wales as "fantastic and wonderful," Visen shared: "As a chef, you're driven by produce; you're driven by the ingredients you work with, and he, without a doubt, had the most amazing ingredients."
"I never came across ingredients like this before and haven't since. The produce is phenomenal; you can walk into the High Grove Estate garden, and you can pick up fresh herbs. The routine of doing that and the products, and the education you learned as a chef- you just would not learn anywhere else."
Praising the royals' demand, Visen added: "He preached about sustainability, ethical sourcing, and he actually practised it down to a T, and I was so fortunate to work with somebody like that."
Game meat is a favourite
Speaking to the Daily Express, the chef continued: "You communicate with them [King Charles and Queen Camilla] on a daily basis and write menus daily based on what's available, and we went through seasonality. That was it; it was always season; there was no veering away from that."
As for what could be on the 78-year-old's dinner plate today, Visen revealed that game meat is one of the King's favourite meals. "Game is in season; it starts off in August, and it runs all the way through to February. That's the best time of the season."
The private cook revealed: "He was getting the food that he enjoyed, like grouse, partridge, venison, mutton, hogget. It was so structured in terms of seasonality, and without a doubt his favourite meals were the game birds."
Birthday celebrations and past events
While the King's birthday plans remain unknown, his special day will be marked in London by traditional musical salutes, such as the Band of the Household Cavalry performing Happy Birthday during the Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Last year, he was hard at work. Alongside Queen Camilla, the pair visited Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, where he met local cultural figures, including Gavin and Stacey icon Ruth Jones. During the trip to South Wales, Queen Camilla heard pupils reading poetry at Cyfarthfa Primary School, and the King officially opened the South Wales Metro Depot in Taff's Well, near Cardiff, and had a go at driving a tram-train.
At the reception, he was presented with a birthday cake shaped like the 200-year-old castle, which he gleefully cut.
