King Charles appears on the cover of the Big Issue to mark his 75th birthday in a Rankin portrait – as he launches new project to tackle food poverty

The King will appear on the front page of Big Issue magazine to mark the launch of the Coronation Food Project.

Charles will use his milestone 75th birthday to officially launch the program that aims to support the nation during the cost of living crisis by redistributing food destined for landfills.

In a black-and-white photo taken by Rankin, a favorite photographer of the late Queen, Charles looks over his shoulder at the camera and wears a classic tailored pinstripe suit.

The Big Issue article is published on Monday, ahead of the King’s birthday on Tuesday, and in the piece Charles expresses concern about the amount of food waste across the country.

The King says: ‘The need for food is as real and urgent a problem as food waste – and if a way could be found to bridge the gap between them, it would tackle two problems in one.

“It is my great hope that this Coronation Food Project will find practical ways to do just that: rescue more surplus food and distribute it to those who need it most.”

The magazine also spoke to Baroness Louise Casey and Dame Martina Milburn, co-chairs of The Coronation Food Project, providing a snapshot of food insecurity in the UK and shedding light on organizations supporting those in need.

The cover photo of The Big Issue was taken by acclaimed British photographer Rankin in Clarence House Gardens in October 2023.

The article also shows the official emblem of The Coronation Food Project, created by designer Sir Jony Ive and his creative collective LoveFrom.

On the King’s birthday, a 10-minute animation of The Coronation Food Project will also be shown at Piccadilly Circus in London at 5.30pm.

Charles follows in his son’s footsteps with a cover of The Big Issue.

William appeared on the cover of the magazine, sold by people to get out of homelessness, last year to mark his 40th birthday.

The then Duke of Cambridge wrote for the magazine to explain why he wanted to highlight the issue for his milestone celebration, which he celebrates tomorrow, after going undercover as a Big Issue seller on the streets of London earlier this month.

He also recalled how his interest in the issue of homelessness began at the age of 11, when he first visited a homeless shelter with his mother, the Princess of Wales. He added that Diana was “determined in her own inimitable style to shine a light on an overlooked and misunderstood problem.”

The magazine, which is being sold by people to get out of poverty, also features an interview between William and Dave Martin, 60, the Big Issue seller he joined to sell the magazine.

One of the world’s best photographers, Rankin, 56, famously photographed the late Queen Elizabeth II in the fall of 2001.

Rankin said he’s kidding himself after he had to turn down photographing King Charles when he was still a prince.

He said, ‘I was asked to photograph him for the Big Issue, but the dates didn’t match. I was a little hesitant too, I wasn’t sure. But since then I’ve been fooling myself.

‘It wouldn’t have worked because of the data, but it did fascinated by people who are born into positions where they have little choice.

‘Just like people are born into poverty, I’m fascinated by that.’

He previously told MailOnline that he admired the way the monarch could tell him ‘no’ to some of his creative ideas, but in a nice way.

It is well documented that Rankin planned to shoot the queen with a sword in her hand in her throne room, but she refused, saying she didn’t like her hands.

But Rankin told MailOnline: ‘I’m not sure whether she liked her hands or not, but I think in retrospect she said she didn’t do that as a way of being nice without saying ‘no’.

‘When the picture came back, the Palace rejected one and approved the other, but the one they rejected was the one they ended up using everywhere – with the Union Jack.

‘Maybe they rejected it because it was very nationalistic. It may have felt wrong at the time, but it was a great photo. I don’t always think that about my work, because I’m very obsessive.

‘But the Queen said, ‘I like the stitching on the flag’ and that was her way of saying what stitch I would use, without saying so explicitly.

‘That is an art in itself.’

Rankin has said that he has had good and bad experiences when it comes to how well he has connected with the people he has worked with on shoots.

He said: ‘Heidi Klum has become a very good friend who I met about 18 years ago. I like really powerful people, but because I’m heterosexual, I like powerful women.

‘She’s lively, cheeky, funny. She tries to get me to dance all the time.

‘It’s always been a brother and sister thing with me and Heidi. We just started getting along, I’m sure she was never attracted to me but I was never like “I really find her attractive”. I just thought she was the funniest person.

‘I also really like Germans. I don’t know why, I really like a sense of humor.’