King Charles celebrates his 76th birthday on 14 November 2025. At Christmas 2024 he delivered his personal message of gratitude to health workers who have supported him during his cancer treatment. The King offered his “heartfelt thanks” to the doctors and nurses who helped with the “uncertainties and anxieties of illness”.
This year’s Christmas message was from the Fitzrovia Chapel in London, the first time a venue outside a royal residence had been used for over a decade.
He came to the throne following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. He was the longest-serving British heir apparent, having beaten Edward VII’s record of 59 years on 20 April 2011. He was the oldest person to come to the throne at the age of 73 having beaten William IV who was 64 when he became king in 1830.
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His coronation took place on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey on a wet and windy day. He became King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
However the then Prince of Wales chose to celebrate his 40th in a tram shed in Witton.