Prince Charles turns 65

Prince Charles' 65th birthday celebrations nearly got out of hand when his jacket caught fire after he got too close to a temple oil burner.

The heir to the throne was stood by the burner lit with 65 lamps in his honour and for sale in an antiques shop in India.

The Prince's linen jacket was pulled out of the flames by a member of his entourage and he turned and joked: "How quickly did you put me out?"

Following the heated experience, the Prince of Wales was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday by a group on a balcony as he walked past shops with Camilla.

In Pictures: Prince Charles celebrates 65 years

Prince Charles has been described as the "most difficult person in the world" to buy a present for by his wife the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prince of Wales celebrates his 65th birthday today and Camilla revealed that Charles's usual reaction to her presents is one of poorly disguised disinterest:

"I spend ages trying to find something that is really wonderful and then (he says) 'Oh, thank you very much".

"It so annoying. So he likes to make a list of things that he wants so you get it exactly right. I find this time of year impossible as it's his birthday and then it's Christmas, so you have got two in a row. Everybody else is easy but he is not."

However, the Duchess of Cornwall believes this year's present will please him: "Well, he collects a lot of things and it is something special - china - that I have found. It's what he really likes. And I know he will be happy with that."

Charles will be spending his birthday in India, before the Royal couple fly to Sri Lanka ahead of the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting tomorrow.

Read: Prince Charles guest edits Country Life to mark birthday

Prince Charles' birthday celebration will hopefully start on the plane over to Sri Lanka, the Duchess of Cornwall revealed - if she can tear her husband away from his work.

She said: "Perhaps we can have an early celebration, then, or celebrate on the aeroplane or something. But he'll stick with his papers, I know he will, while I am trying to sing Happy Birthday. I might just even have to hold up a sign saying 'Happy Birthday, Darling'."

Camilla said her husband likes marking the big day: "He does quite like celebrating. He quite likes birthdays.

"He said it was really nice in New Zealand last year when everyone gave him a bit of a party. He likes people giving him a cake, a bit of a sing-song."

Prince Charles will "never stop working" despite turning 65 and becoming eligible for a pension, his wife has said.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall let slip some details about her husband's working habits while on a tour of India.

The heir to the throne, Prince Charles, is officially a pensioner and his 66-year-old wife, the Duchess of Cornwall joked, "he can join in with me collecting the bus pass."

The Prince of Wales will turn 65 in India, where he is on an official tour with his wife Camilla, before the couple fly to Sri Lanka ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting tomorrow.

Camilla told the press in an impromtu interview her husband was "the most difficult person in the world to buy a present for".

However, she found Charles was always pleased to receive china.

The Duchess said: "Well, he collects a lot of things and it is something special - china - that I have found. It's what he really likes. And I know he will be happy with that."

The Prince of Wales has guest edited Country Life to celebrate his 65th birthday tomorrow.

Charles's birthday falls on the eve of the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) he will host in Sri Lanka.

It will be one of his most significant duties to date as a future monarch but the summit has been overshadowed with controversy over the country's human rights record.

He used his editorial to voice his support for farmers, saying they were not getting paid enough by big supermarkets. He said:

"It cannot be right that a typical hill farmer earns just £12,500, with some surviving on as little as £8,000 a year, whilst the big retailers and their shareholders do so much better out of the deal, having taken none of the risk."