Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the monarchs are “always welcome visitors”. Photo: Anthony Albanese, X.
Buckingham Palace has named the ACT among a list of stops for King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a royal tour of Australia and the Pacific in October.
It will be King Charles’ first visit to Australia since he became king and the first by a reigning monarch since 2011, when Queen Elizabeth II travelled to Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
“Their Majesties, The King and Queen, will undertake an autumn tour in October 2024,” the palace said in a statement.
“This will include Royal Visits to Australia and Samoa, where their majesties will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024.”
King Charles III, 75, ascended to the throne after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022, and was crowned in May last year.
A royal tour has been on the cards ever since but was thrown into doubt in February this year when the palace announced Charles was beginning treatment for an unspecified type of cancer. A tumour was discovered during a procedure for an enlarged prostate in January.
Royal officials said the visit to Australia, which highlights the ACT and NSW, would be limited due to the King’s continuing recovery.
“The King’s doctors have advised that a further extension to their majesties’ trip should be avoided at this time to prioritise His Majesty’s continued recovery,” they said.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall signed the National Arboretum visitors book in 2015, overseen by Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Photo: File.
“As with all His Majesty’s recent engagements, his program in both countries will be subject to doctors’ advice and any necessary modifications on health grounds.”
Charles has visited Australia 15 times previously, including with then-fiancée Lady Diana Spencer in February 1981.
The couple visited Diana’s mother and stepfather at their sheep station in Yass a week after the prince had proposed to her. Charles returned again to Australia shortly after, just prior to his July wedding in 1981.
Charles last visited Canberra in November 2015, with then Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, on a tour that also included Adelaide, Sydney, Albany and Perth.
The Prince and Duchess returned again in 2018 to open the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on behalf of the Queen.
Planning is still underway for the October royal visit and the palace said more information will be provided in “due course”.
In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “honoured” to welcome the royal couple in October.
“They are always welcome visitors,” Mr Albanese said.
“The King has a deep regard for our great nation and has always spoken warmly of the time he has spent here and the astounding beauty of our extraordinary continent.”
The official portrait of King Charles and Queen Camilla has been released. Photo: Australian Government.
Official Australian portraits of The King and Queen have now been released and can be downloaded from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website.
In the portraits, The King wears The Sovereign’s Badge of the Order of Australia, while The Queen wears the Wattle Brooch, gifted to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Australia in 1954.
Australians can request printed versions of the portraits through their Federal Member of the House of Representatives or Senator in their state or territory.
Original Article published by James Coleman on Riotact.
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