King Charles walks red carpet alone as he appears without Queen Camilla at Gladiator II premiere

14 November 2024, 00:39 | Updated: 14 November 2024, 11:02

King Charles walked the red carpet alone - for the global premiere of Gladiator II - without Queen Camilla.

The King, in black tie, walked the carpet on the eve of his birthday, meeting stars Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal at the glitzy event.

On Wednesday afternoon, he hosted a special celebrity reception at Buckingham Palace in honour of the UK's film and television industry, where he and Camilla, who attended for part of the event, chatted with a host of famous faces including actors Damian Lewis, Emily Mortimer and Lucien Laviscount, and Gladiator director Sir Ridley Scott.

The Queen, who had hoped to join him, still recovering from a nasty chest infection.

The King is celebrating his 76th birthday, marking the occasion with a visit to a surplus food festival.

Charles is treating the day as a normal working one and carrying on with his duties despite facing a personally challenging year in which both he and the Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.

The monarch will open the first two Coronation Food Hubs on the first anniversary of the launch of his Coronation Food Project, designed to bridge the gap between food need and food waste in the UK amid the cost-of-living crisis.

He will head to Deptford in south London to formally unveil the first hub, tour the centre with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and attend the surplus food festival being staged to celebrate the royal visit, before virtually opening another hub in Merseyside.

Read more: Who has Trump picked to be in his cabinet so far and who is in the running?

Read more: Sara Sharif’s father ‘did not intend to kill her’ but admits beating her over the head with phone months before death

Yesterday, Camilla seen for the first time after missing the Remembrance Sunday service due to the infection.

She joined shortlisted authors for the Booker Prize reception at Clarence House on Tuesday afternoon.

The event marked her first public engagement since she contracted the seasonal bug.

It came after her long-haul tour to Australia and Samoa two-and-a-half weeks ago.

She attended for a shorter period than planned, joining guests only for a discussion and a group photograph.

Over the weekend, Camilla was forced to miss the annual Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph and the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall due to her illness.

Read more: Palace gives update on Camilla's return to work after Queen falls ill

Read more: The Queen to return to public duties after chest infection but will miss major film premiere