Prince has a trick up his sleeve as he hits magical 70
HE IS said to be a lifelong fan of magicians and was 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, including at least one of whom he has supported throughout his career.
The show, which will also feature comedians, is to be broadcast by ITV and named We Are Most Amused Amazed, a play on Queen Victoria’s famous phrase.
It is one of numerous events lined up this year to celebrate 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 gala yesterday, 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”.
Organisers have promised “a cast of comedy giants will take to the stage, but will also showcase the best jawdropping illusions from the greatest magicians”.
The line-up has not yet been confirmed, but the 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.
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 assistant during a 2016 Royal Variety Performance. The Prince (pictured inset) unveiled his own sleight of hand skills 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” at the society’s headquarters.
He had been taken there by his greatuncle, 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 make a live fish appear 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 is also likely to recreate scenes or songs from The Goon Show, the Prince’s childhood favourite.
Proceeds from ticket sales go to The Prince’s Trust, with the television programme being co-produced by Spun Gold, the company that won a Bafta for The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration.
The Prince began his birthday celebrations with a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May for hard-working staff and volunteers at his charities.
When 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.