UK Edition
Prince Charles to celebrate 70th birthday with TV magic show, 43 years after he joined Magic Circle
He is said to be a lifelong fan of magicians, inducted into the secretive Magic Circle in 1975 after performing a classic cup and ball trick of his own.
What better way then for the Prince of Wales to celebrate his 70th birthday than with a magic show fit for, well, a future king.
The Prince, who will turn 70 on November 14, is to be honoured with a London Palladium gala starring Britain’s finest magicians, at least one of whom he has supported throughout his career.
The gala, which will also see comedians take to the stage, is to be broadcast by ITV and named We Are Most Amused and Amazed, a play on Queen Victoria’s famous phrase.
It is one of numerous events lined up this year to mark the Prince’s landmark birthday, taking his charity work and royal duties into a new decade in which most of his contemporaries have already retired.
Announcing the show, ITV said it would put on “a truly unique and unforgettable night where the world’s greatest comics join forces with the most accomplished of magicians to celebrate The Prince of Wales’s 70th Birthday”.
Organisers have promised “a cast of comedy giants take to the stage, but will also showcase the best jaw-dropping illusions from the greatest magicians in the business”.
The line-up has not yet been confirmed, but magician Dynamo is likely to be the star of the show after receiving funding from The Prince’s Trust and remaining in regular contact with the Prince throughout his career.
He has previously told of his council estate upbringing, saying of the charity: “When I said I wanted to be a magician they didn't laugh in my face as so many others had done, they gave me the help I needed.”
He added: "Prince Charles believed in me, this kid with crazy ideas like wanting to walk on the Thames."
The show may also include a performance from Richard Jones, a Britain’s Got Talent contestant, for whom the Prince acted as an on-screen assistant during a 2016 Royal Variety Performance.
The Prince unveiled his own sleight of hand to the public in 1975, when he was made a member of the prestigious magic circle.
A report in the Daily Telegraph, headlined “Now You See It...Now You Don’t”, detailed how he had performed a “disappearing trick with cups and a ball” to earn his membership at the society’s headquarters.
He had been taken there by his great-uncle, Earl Mountbatten, who had been a member for 20 years.
Since then, he has been photographed gasping and grimacing at magic tricks performed during his public engagements.
In 2000 he watched Ti Yue Li magic a live fish from his trousers to celebrate Chinese New Year, and in 2013 covered his eyes in mock-horror after Dynamo appeared to break his own fingers.
The show will also feature comedians, and is likely to recreate scenes or songs from The Goon Show, the Prince’s childhood favourite.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go to The Prince’s Trust, with the television programme being co-produced by Spun Gold, the company behind the BAFTA-winning The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration.
The Prince began his birthday celebrations with a garden party for the hard-working staff and volunteers at his charities at Buckingham Palace, where his son the Duke of Sussex gave a heartfelt speech in his honour.
He is expected to enjoy a private party with family and close friends in November. ITV has previous broadcast a celebration of the Prince’s 60th, with a line-up including Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, Eric Idle, Rowan Atkinson, Michael McIntyre, Bill Bailey and a reunion between John Cleese and Andrew Sachs which saw him recreate the role of Manuel from the classic comedy series Fawlty Towers.
Asked about We Are Most Amused and Amazed, a spokesman for Clarence House declined to comment on whether the Prince would recreate his 1975 trick on stage for the nation.