Charles will ring in 70th with huge garden party

PRINCE Charles does not turn 70 until November, but he’s planning to start the celebrations early.

I hear the Queen will be handing over the gardens of Buckingham Palace to her heir for one day in May so he can throw a huge party.

‘The party will be to celebrate the work of his patronages, charities and military affiliations,’ a courtier tells me. ‘It will be a big thank-you.’

It may also be something of a farewell. A Clarence House spokesman said earlier this year that Charles had decided to ‘review’ his charities as he filled in more for the Queen.

The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation’s grants plunged from £7.7 to £3.1 million in a year.