Prince Charles celebrates his 70th at glitzy birthday bash at Clarence House

The Prince of Wales holds a birthday gift as he and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive for a tea party at Spencer House in London.
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Nick Charity14 November 2018

Prince Charles celebrates his 70th birthday tonight at a star-studded party at Clarence House, after attending a number of public and private events through the day.

The Prince of Wales was captured smiling giddily as he received a present and birthday balloon as he arrived for a tea party with 70 "inspiring people" who also celebrate their 70th birthdays this year.

Following two days of celebration, he later headed to a private function at Buckingham Palace for friends and family hosted by the Queen.

A one-off performance of We are Most Amused and Amazed at the London Palladium, filmed in October and at which Charles was a "birthday guest of honour", aired on ITV last night.

The Queen Elizabeth's eldest son was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, four years before his now 92-year-old mother ascended to the throne following the death of her father George VI.

As Britain's heir apparent, he has waited longer than any of his predecessors to become monarch and would be the oldest-ever king in a lineage that dates back 1,000 years.

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As he met with a group of 70 septuagenarians he he joked that ageing was very much like "indigestion".

He told the press as he arrived for the event at Spencer House with the Duchess of Cornwall: "How am I feeling? Older, older.

"It's rather like indigestion, many happy returns are not quite the same thing as you get older."

He was handed a gift and a "70th birthday" balloon as he arrived for a tea party to celebrate 70 inspirational people also marking their 70th birthday this year.
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Prime Minister Theresa May paid tribute to Charles in parliament on Wednesday.

"Throughout the Prince of Wales' life his commitment to public service has been total," she said. "The more one looks at (his) life, the more one sees a man who has spent 70 years defying expectations and refusing to be categorised."

Charles has used his unique position to campaign on issues including climate change, architecture and farming, often challenging orthodox views.

"You have to make of it what you feel is right - there's nothing laid down so that's what makes it so interesting, challenging and of course complicated," he said in a BBC documentary aired last week.

The Prince of Wales met young Princes' Trust beneficiaries after attending a one off performance of 'We Are Most Amused and Amazed.

His supporters say the concerns he has raised are often of great importance, citing how he began campaigning about the overuse of plastic in the 1970s long before it became a mainstream issue.

However, critics accuse him of inappropriate interfering because British monarchs are bound by Britain's unwritten constitution to stay out of politics.

In last week's documentary, Charles said as king he would stop "meddling" in campaigns which he felt strongly about.

"I'm not that stupid," he said. "I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign."

He was introduced to a star-studded audience for the performance, including Alexander Armstrong, Ben Miller, Bill Bailey and Sandi Toksvig.
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The idea of a new king ascending the throne at an age when most men have retired has prompted calls in the past for his elder son Prince William to succeed the queen instead.

"The coronation of an elderly King Charles promises to be a distinctly backward-looking event, with none of the new-era excitement of the Queen's in 1953," wrote the left-leaning Guardian newspaper in an editorial on Wednesday.

"The royal baton, though not the crown itself, has already skipped a generation," it added.

File Photo: Prince Charles, pictured dressed in his investiture regalia as Prince of Wales in 1969.
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In the BBC film, William said he hoped his hard-working father would spend more time with his grandchildren and ease up on his busy schedule.

"He's the fittest man I know but equally I want him to be fit so he's 95 going on, so having more time with him at home would be lovely," William said, although he acknowledged that Charles still believed he had much to achieve.

File photo: Prince Charles held by his mother Queen Elizabeth for an official Christening photograph in 1948.
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"He hasn't even reached the point that his natural progression should do - ie being monarch - so he's still got his job to do," he said.

Photographs marking Charles's birthday have been released, showing him in the garden of his London home Clarence House with his wife Camilla, sons William and Harry, their wives Kate and Meghan along with William and Kate's children, George, Charlotte and Louis.

'Say cheese!': Prince Charles released two family pictures to mark his landmark birthday
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Charles's office also released 70 facts about the prince to mark the occasion, which included the detail that he has a frog named after him - the Prince Charles Magnificent Tree Frog - and that at tree-planting ceremonies, he gives a branch a friendly shake to wish them well.