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23-10-2024
CANBERRA: Thousands of people were out on the streets of Sydney on Tuesday, eager to see King Charles and Queen Camilla, set against the iconic Opera House in the late afternoon sunlight.
For Buckingham Palace, this was the ideal ending to the royal tour of Australia.
The optics were positive. Despite a headline-grabbing protest in Canberra on Monday, the public mood on the ground in Sydney was supportive but getting to this point with a successful completion of this trip ahead of a poignant goodbye – will have come as a huge relief to royal aides.
Back in February, this tour looked unlikely to happen with the King diagnosed with cancer and having treatment but it stayed in the diary with modifications on the advice of doctors.
The duration of this visit has been shorter and the engagements have been arranged to avoid early starts and late finishes.
Even with the alterations, it has still been a busy schedule for the King and Queen.
On Tuesday alone the royal couple between them visited a National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, a food bank, a social housing project, a literacy initiative, a community barbecue, meeting two leading cancer researchers, celebrating the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary, and a naval review in Sydney Harbour.
An Australian arm of the King’s Foundation was officially launched, expanding a charity which promotes sustainability and provides training in traditional craft skills.
These trips are a quick-fire round of very diverse events, with the crowds at each demanding attention and the King appears to have coped well.
His health challenges haven’t shown and he has appeared moved by the response he’s had from the public on his first visit here as monarch.
The protest at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday was uncomfortable but not unexpected.
The King has encountered many protesters over the years and came to Australia knowing that republican sentiment and campaigns in support of indigenous communities were likely to come up.
His presence here in Australia immediately focuses minds on the King’s role as head of state and re-opens questions about whether that is right for modern Australia.
Although republican sentiment bubbles under the surface here, except for the heckling in Parliament it has not burst through in any significant way on this trip.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who supports a republic, has been at the King and Queen’s side for several engagements and spoken warmly about his royal guests.
Before the disruption at Parliament, the prime minister formally welcomed the King to Canberra.
“You have shown great respect for Australians, even during times when we have debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the crown. Nothing stands still,” said Albanese.
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s tour of Australia has reignited the debate about the role of the monarchy in the country.
The visit to Australia and Samoa is the King’s biggest overseas trip since he began treatment for cancer in February. He resumed public duties in April after a temporary pause following his diagnosis. The King is the UK head of state, but his powers are largely symbolic and ceremonial. He remains politically neutral.
He receives daily dispatches from the government in a red leather box, including briefings ahead of important meetings, or documents needing his signature. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
