
Today is the first time any of us are able to wish King Charles a happy birthday in his new role. I am sure that in between his formal duties there will be an opportunity to sing the traditional “happy birthday to you” and to cut a cake although there is an almost bewildering number of alternative birthday songs to choose from these days including Madonna, The Beatles, Don Maclean, The Sugarcubes, Destiny’s Child, Stevie Wonder and so on. Some of these songs have a slight edge to them reflecting the bitter sweet nature of the passing of time as we get older whereas a children’s’ birthday party is simply the joy of the moment, certainly at least for the child.
Unlike most of us, every step of King Charles’s long life has been captured and analysed, with millions of people commenting on his actions and assuming they know what he thinks or taking pride in having briefly met him and recounting conversations. It is an extraordinary life and one in which in retrospect his mother navigated with such calm grace for 96 years not by always speaking and tweeting and flooding the world with words, but just by doing. In contrast, King Charles has often been criticised for sharing his concerns although it is clear they are deeply held.
I always remember my sister Sarah saying you cannot expect people to read your mind, you need to communicate. What is so interesting about King Charles is that he has not only tried to communicate when something matters to him but has also tried to lead by example. There is the old adage “actions speak louder than words” but matching actions to words is all too often an alien concept in today’s world when words eddy round in a myriad of ways with few or no anchors to actual deeds.
For half a century King Charles has spoken of man’s interdependence on nature, wildlife and the countryside. Highlighted that trees communicate with each other, that the diversity of our world is something not just to be admired but something which, in fact, gives us all life. Most of the world’s populations live in towns and considers the countryside simply as a resource for leisure or food. That is not the real story and our values and consequent habits need to change to alter the current destiny of this world.
King Charles’ initiatives have been based not just on his own his own feelings but through reading and conversations with experts ranging from academics to those who work and live in gardens and farmland. He applies his values not just to the management of his own farms but to encouraging young people to work in the countryside and to respecting the well -being of those who find rural careers.

Seasons at Highclere
For my own part, I think the countryside and views and trees around Highclere are beautiful. Whatever the weather, they give me a sense of delight. Britain is known for its quaint or romantic landscapes but these do not happen by chance, requiring sensitivity to manage what nature gave us. Of course we need to eat but we need to eat well and waste less. Imagine if we did not waste 30% of the food we buy (an average statistic), if we turned some lights off some of the time or if the food which was deemed unsaleable by supermarket rules was repurposed for food kitchens.
Over the last week, many important people have gathered at COP 27 but they arrived in over 400 private jets and I cannot help feeling that “After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done” (Aesop).
King Charles will formally inaugurate his reign next year at his coronation. To repurpose a quote from Gandhi – some of our beliefs need to become actions and some of our actions, habits and habits need to become valued so we can look forward to a better destiny.
MY DEAR LADY CARNARVON,
GOOD MORNING FROM RIO CLARO, BRAZIL,
MILADY,
AHHHHH , LOVELY DAY AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR NEW KING OF UK, KING CHARLES 3°.
CHEERS.
VILA ALEMÃ
RIO CLARO – SP
BRAZIL
A very Happy Birthday to His Majesty King Charles.
A lovely sentiment indeed! Thank you & happy birthday to King Charles
I love your blog Lady Carnarvon. Happy Birthday to the King. I hope to be back for a visit soon, Highclere is absolutely beautiful. It took my breath away!
Wishing King Charles a very Happy Birthday
from Heather and Malcolm Gilbert in Australia.
Long May You Reign.
Lady Carnarvon did you have and lord Carnarvon have a nice weekend and Happy birthday King Charles and lovely to visit highcelere castle and lam fan of Downton abbey thank you for the email you send me
We need light in the world especially now, and King Charles work with nature provides welcome brightness. I’ve planted my own small forest on 2/3 of an acre in western Maryland, United States. I wish him a Happy Birthday!
A very Happy Birthday to King Charles as well as my father and daughter!
Thank you, Lady a Carnarvon for pointing out to the world all the good Charles is doing and has done.
These priorities are vital.
Happy Birthday to Father & Daughter
Lady Carnarvon did you have and lord Carnarvon have a nice weekend and big congratulations to the King Charles on his happy birthday and like to visit highcelere castle and l love Downton abbey calendars
Happy birthday to his Majesty.
Thank you, Lady Carnarvon for this beautiful and toughful text. I totally agree. I think he is the right person at the right place in this time and well prepared for its role. I wish him – and us – the best success in creating a future in respect for and in cooperation with nature.
Happy Birthday to King Charles
Happy birthday his majesty King Charles
happy birthday to King Charles and best wishes to his majesty!
Good morning! Every letter you write is a delight and I always enjoy them so much. I’ve been to
Highclere once, every aspect is a beautiful sight
Thank you!
Lady Carnarvon,
HM King Charles probably will spend some time today in wistful memories of his boyhood and the example his lovely mother was setting for him. His life, to me, may be charming, but the steadiness and resolve it demands does not give him much time for making daily decisions for himself in terms of the solitude he seems to crave. You’ve written it well.
From across the pond, we wish him much happiness and time for trees and nature.
I do wish him many more happy birthdays today and to come.
Martha G
Thank you!
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
First I have to wish our new king a very Happy Birthday. I hope he does get peaceful family time at some point today. I admire King Charles for his many years of respecting the Earth and what it offers us. It is a very hard thing to do in the type of self centered world we live in today. I can only hope with time actions and words like those of the King will be heard and people will realize it is time to take all this very seriously. A very small change in nature can affect us greatly. An example of this is the declining bumble bee population. No bees, no pollination therefore dwindling plant life. Anyway, that is my little rant for today.
Again thank you for your weekly blog. It gives a retired woman a reason to enjoy Monday mornings. Take care and have a wonderful week.
Susan Kearsey
Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada
I agree bees are very important to the world we live in
I love get your blog Lady Carnarvon and a big congratulations to his majesty King Charles on his birthday today
During the pandemic, when many were out of work, we learned that 40% of food in supermarkets was thrown away due to expiration date and a law was passed that they must try to give it away first.
I live in a mixed apartment building with market rate, subsidized and low income residents so food is sometimes brought here and left on a table, big boxes of non-perishables mostly, canned vegetables, apple sauce, pasta, instant oatmeal. The boxes leave and things people won’t use return to the table, mostly mixed vegetables, instant oatmeal and applesauce. Then those items leave, one by one. It’s for anyone to take.
Sometimes milk and bread are left and are taken immediately.
I had a big gift box of fruit before the pandemic started and knew I couldn’t eat it all before it would spoil so put a bunch in a bag and brought it to my neighbors who were happy to have it. I knew they were struggling, a mom and two older teen girls.
When I was diagnosed as diabetic the day my state shut down, I had to change my diet and brought three bags of groceries to them, asking if they’d take it because I couldn’t eat it and needed it out of my cupboards.
They took it and later my neighbor told me it was from God, her ex was out of work and she wasn’t getting child support.
People sometimes leave other food out to share, there were big bags of fried rice one day, probably leftovers from a party.
Food banks are important
I love get your blog lady Carnarvon and big congratulations to his majesty King Charles on his birthday today
Thank you for highlighting the tremendous work that King Charles has done over his lifetime for the environment and for inspiring young people to pursue careers in sustainable agriculture. His work in the Duchy of Cornwall has created jobs, housing, and the largest organic farming operation in the UK – advancing pioneering methods which have far-reaching benefits. I keep a keen eye out when I grocery shop for products from the Duchy to support those worthwhile efforts. So Happy Birthday indeed to King Charles, with thanks for his hard work in the past and his vision for the future. And thanks to you, Lady Carnarvon, for shining a bright light on it!
Well done for supporting a good cause
Yesterday, I sang God Save the King for the first time at a service to honor 23 courageous men who gave all in training during WW 11 at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. Wreaths were layed, bagpipes played, the names were read and the missing man formation flown. A tree was also dedicated to Her Majesty.
Quote by Rupert Brooke, There’s some corner in a foreign field that is forever England.
Beautifully said! A very Happy Birthday to King Charles, from Eric and Debbie Kolhede in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Happy birthday King Charles xx
What a beautiful text! Thank you very much and Happy Birthday, king Charles
Patricia from Switzerland
Thank you so much for today’s blog.
Wishing his majesty a very happy birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KING CHARLES
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Will the new KING have an official birthday celebration in June with the Trooping of the Colour as the Queen celebrated each year?
Our family was blessed to visit England in June 2019 before Covid and stood in front of Buckingham Palace to witness what we didn’t know at the time to be the Queens last trip from the palace to review her troops and her return to great us all from the balcony with the flyover….I wished for my daughter to see the Queen and it was a once in a life time memory as it turned out….
I myself was able to meet the Queen many years ago at the church yard at Sandringham on a Sunday after Christmas while visiting an aunt on holiday… the royal family came out of
service and greeted us on the lawn.
I had flowers and the Queen approached me and I was able to wish her a Happy New Year with a smile and tear rolling down my cheek as she took the bouquet from my hands….Prince Charles was standing next to me speaking to a gentleman who had brought a gift for William and Harry. Prince Charles waved the boys over to him so they could accept the gift, a framed photograph of there mother Princess Diana. This was the Christmas before Diana’s tragic death…. Another once in a life time memory of meeting the Queen will always warm my heart…
We also were able to visit Highclere that summer in 2019 and had the honor of meeting you in the castle’s Egyptian rooms and while you spoke to your guests about the amazing exhibit dedicated to the Earl and Howard Carter – it truly was the most magical and memorable day for all of us! Our “Downton Abbey Bookclub is looking forward to reading your new book in January here in the USA!
Thank you Lady Carnarvon for sharing a glimpse of the history of your family & your amazing corner of the world. And continuing to inspire us…,,
Sincerely…..
Thank you for your comment – I think some of your questions will be resolved as King Charles begins to define his reign and I am sure will be a mixture of tradition and thinking how best to reflect the role in a modern world. It is without doubt a cultural anchor.
It is just wonderful that you can take a small event people are aware of (King Charles’s birthday) and expand it to a global concern using the awareness of a person’s concerns (again King Charles) to give us all something to thing about and hopefully take action upon. The subject connects so well with what you continue to do at Highclere. Thank you for always starting my week with something to ponder about or simply enjoy!
Thank you!
I wanted to thank you for your blog and opening your home so that complete strangers can tour it and admire it and the beautiful grounds around it. My father and I enjoyed our visits back in July of 2018 and 2019. Nine years ago, my father experienced a medical emergency which he was not expected to survive. He did and was considered a medical miracle. During his long discovery process, I introduced him to Downton Abbey and we loved watching the series and the movies together. The most recent movie was the last one he saw in a movie theater.
The show inspired him to want to travel, especially to see Highclere. On the fifth anniversary of his survival, we traveled to the UK and visited Highclere. It was a highlight of the trip. The following year we returned as Highclere was a part of the tour we were on. We thrilled to be able to see it again.
Dad passed away on October 29, but I wanted to let you know how much those trips meant to the two of us. I am so happy that we have those happy memories. And I hope to return one day, because the show and Highclere mean so much to me. Thank you.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Thank you for both your kind words as well as deeds! I’m forever grateful that you allow us to peek into your world.
Prince Charles was born on my father’s 40th birthday. He loved to relate that the new heir was greeted with a 40 gun salute!
From America,
Happy birthday to King Charles!
Thank you Lady Carnarvon for your wonderful thoughts and information.
So beautifully written! I love these blogs.
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Another good blog.
fondly Jenny
I think your reminder of HM King Charles’ birthday is such a good read. The picture of the birthday, in his younger days, is a peak in the life of a future king. Reminds me of Michelangelo”s sculpture of David just before he killed Goliath knowing he would never have peace in the pastures as a lowly shepherd again. Let us pray for King Charles on his birthday.
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
You MAKE my Monday Mornings so very special.
Thank you. sandie carpenter Whitefish Montana, USA
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
As always, you share wise words indeed. In wishing King Charles a Happy Birthday, you widen the lens from his important work in sustainable organic farming to the global crisis of food insecurity, waste and abject insensitivity. Your mention of those that arrived to COPT 27 in private jets brings to mind the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Hopefully more creative initiatives will be undertaken to preserve our world and our humanity.
Thank you, again, for so eloquently shining a spotlight.
Best regards,
Charlotte Merriam Cole
A very blessed and happy birthday, your majesty, King Charles.
Thank you, Lady Carnarvon,
your words are resonating …..as your deeds March on. You are such a blessing to us all.
Marguerite Lynch
Thank you!
Lady Carnarvon, such wonderful words today in this story and so very important. Cheryl.
I have been pleased over the years that someone in King Charles’ position (most of the time as Prince) would take up environmental causes and give them a much larger platform which helps people become aware of the issues and potential solutions. Same now for Prince William. It is more than Queen Elizabeth was willing to do or say. It always seemed to this foreigner she had no real influence on what Parliament was doing; her main job was to be a figurehead and communicator of high moral values/virtues for the UK and Commonwealth, somewhat akin to a personal coach, through her public service/state duties and charity support. She had to walk that tight rope of not showing which way her political views turned, in order to be the “Queen of all.” It will be interesting to see whether King Charles keeps to that tradition or if he tries to be more of an influencer, which might jeopardize public sentiment about the relevancy of the monarchy to a greater degree if a sizable amount of the public is of a different view than his.
With regard to the annual trek of 400 jets to the COP meeting, hopefully we are within a few years of sizeably reducing aircraft emissions, if all goes as planned with Biden’s infrastructure law. Progress is being made if we can keep the right people in power and business and new technology product development leaders keep pushing forward with clean energy/sustainable fuels initiatives in utilities, manufacturing/building, and transportation.
a very happy birthday to his majesty the King Charles and l am fan of the royal family
Well said! Nature is so important to us and sadly, many people seem not to care.
Happy birthday to King Charles!
“Actions speak louder than words ” is a great truth! Nowadays we all should become women and men of action: ” Come, my friends, tis not too late to seek a newer world!”(Ulysses, Tennyson)
A very happy birthday to King Charles from the Chicago area in America. I don’t suppose this will actually happen, but I am picturing for the King both cheerful family time and some quiet solitude as well. The Ghandi quote that you finished with moved me greatly. Also… is the first photo in your blog one of a young Charles at Highclere? Thank you as always for your lovely writing and thoughtful commentary.
The photo is in a photo album here
Hi Lady Carnarvon!
I was taken back a bit when I saw your heading, wondering how you knew my birthday was this week! Today is actually our 58th wedding anniversary, and I turn 80 on Sunday, the 20th, His Majesty’s parents’ wedding anniversary.
Obviously we’ve ‘known’ King Charles forever, but love to read about all the details of his very special life. I’ve always loved the Queen and praying that King Charles does as well.
God bless you, and thank you for all of your wonderful posts.
Happy birthday for Sunday and Happy Anniversary today!
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
I thoroughly enjoy reading your well written blogs.
I discovered your website while vacationing in Greece this past summer. You kept me sane while vacationing with family members. I thank you for that.
I already miss Queen Elizabeth. She represented the greatest generation.
Happy Birthday King Charles!
Love your comment on the private jets. Many hypocrites in government.
To Mary who is 80 years old, God Bless You!
Maria G.
Florida, USA
I survived Hurricane Ian
For whatever is discussed at the COP 27 (Conference of Parties), King Charles has been saying so for the last 40 years if not more. A visionary prince who at times then had been ridiculed for his thoughts and concerns for our planet. Now we seem to pay attention.
A very Happy Birthday to King Charles. Long live the King. Hip Hip Hip Hooray!
Even though I live in Texas, I grew up seeing photographs of King Charles in newspapers, magazines, and on television. Through the years, I, oddly enough, feel as though we grew up together, even though our lives were and are vastly different in so many ways. Without stewardship of the land, disasters will begin. On the television series Yellowstone, a powerful company wants the state of Montana to claim eminent domain on land owned by a large ranch in order to build an airport and casino. Needless to say, the situation has become ugly. One of the ranch hands said, after moving a herd of cattle to a fresh area, “Where do people expect to get their food if the ranches and farms are forced to sell?” Food for thought, no pun intended.
What a super well written article. Thank you.
I had the privilege of seeing then, Prince Charles, playing polo in Hawai’i in 1972. He was 23 years old and serving as an officer on a ship in the Royal Navy… I was 22, an Airborne Infantry officer in the US Army. Thanks for his service, an important part I think, of his training.
I don’t feel bad for him about being scrutinized. He’s a public figure and a National leader, so that’s to be expected and warranted.
What does bother me is the rather cruel and fake sensationalism that’s become so prevalent in the last few decades.
Everyone will make their bad decisions, it’s part of growing up, maturing, and learning. It’s unfortunate that a public leader’s poor decisions get broadcast but that part’s understandable.
It’s the stuff that doesn’t exist that upsets me. The twists that seem to be put on everything so as to create the fake sensationalism. All the “royal experts” penning outright guesses and suppositions as fact, or nearly so. Those looking for personal aggrandizement by exaggerating or wholly misleading others (not just about royals, either).
It’s not just the media. They’re just pandering to what people want. I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg (us teaching them that’s what we wanted, or them teaching us to want it) but it’s there all the way around.
Yes back to chicken and egg…
Happy birthday, sir. (((Court bow)))
Lady Carnarvon,
Best wishes to King Charles III and your family, too!
My husband and I will be coming from California to the Coronation in May.
Will you and the Earl be in attendance?
Good Morning!
I doubt we will be there but like you will enjoy watching it
Good morning Lady Carnarvon,
I am a bit late to the party. We just enjoyed a wonderful weekend at the Festival of Remembrance and Cenotaph service. Sang God Save the King first time publicly. Happy birthday to King Charles and a very big thank you for honoring him.
Bless you,
Joan
Happy birthday His Majesty King Charles!
Dear Lady Carnarvon:
Belated Birthday Greetings to His Majesty King Charles II! Long live the King!
Thank you for your Monday blog and the very nice pictures of King Charles II in his younger days. Even though he will not advise on environmental issues as he has done in the past, I am sure he has left a “plan and road map” for those who will carry on in his place.
Also, thank you for reminding us that “actions speak louder than words”. Now is the time to bring back personal responsibility for each one’s own actions, behavior, deeds, thoughts, and words.
Until next week, all the best to you.
Perpetua Crawford
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Belated Birthday wishes to
HM King Charles II
Long live the King!
This is a wonderful opportunity to wish a King in this day and age.
Thank you Lady Carnarvon for creating this tribute. And I love the photos you supplied of the Royal Family.
You are a kind and generous person.
Blessings,
Phyllis Simpson
Dear Lady, Carnarvon,
This is the best article I have ever read from you. God bless you. Kindest regards, Heather Mills Marysville Victoria
So very well said Lady Carnarvon!
TO LADY CARNARVON
We want to wish to you the best Xmas time, and a wonderful New Year…