King Charles Visits Australia For The First Time After Cancer Diagnosis

On Friday, October 18, King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney for the first time in more than a decade.

This is an outing that has revived banter about the country’s constitutional links to England.

To welcome the couple, whose six-day trip will be brief by royal standards, the iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated with images of previous royal visits.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns, and the king’s representative in Australia, Governor-General Sam Mostyln, greeted Charles and Camilla at Sydney Airport in light rain.

Charles is the second reigning monarch of the United Kingdom to visit Australia. 70 years ago, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first to do so.

Meanwhile, Australia’s national and state leaders want the royals removed from their constitution, despite the memorable welcome.

The visit, according to monarchists, is expected to strengthen Australians’ connection to their sovereign. Rivals expect a dismissal of the idea that somebody from the opposite side of the world is Australia’s head of state.

The Australian Republic Development, which lobbies for an Australian resident to replace the English ruler as head of state.

This week, the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) began what it refers to as a “Wave Goodbye to Royal Reign with Monarchy: The Goodbye Oz Visit!”

Esther Anatolitis, co-chair of the ARM, described royal visits to Australia as “a show that comes to town.”

“Unfortunately, it is a reminder that Australia’s head of state isn’t full-time, and not an Australian. It’s a part-time person based overseas who’s the head of state of numerous places,” Anatolitis said.

“We say to Charles and Camilla: ‘Welcome, we hope you’re enjoying our country and good health and good spirits.’ But we also look forward to this being the final tour of a sitting Australian monarch and that when they come back to visit soon, we look forward to welcoming them as visiting dignitaries,” she added.

Philip Benwell, national chair of the Australian Monarchist League, which works to keep Australia’s constitutional ties to Britain, anticipates that people will react positively to the royal couple.

“Because we do not have a monarchy, something like a royal visit brings the king closer to people’s minds. Benwell stated, “The king’s visit confirms that Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a king.”

Benwell is critical of the six state premiers who have declined invitations to Charles’ reception in Canberra, the nation’s capital.

Each of the premiers stated that they had more pressing obligations that day, such as traveling abroad and attending cabinet meetings.

“It would be basically officeholder upon the premiers to be in Canberra to meet him and offer their appreciation. Due to the fact that this is not a normal visit, failure to attend could be regarded as a snub. This is the very first time a king has visited Australia. Benwell added.

Prior to his visit, Charles was involved in the republic debate in Australia.

The Australian Republic Development kept in touch with Charles in December last year mentioning a gathering in Australia and for the King to advocate their goal.

Buckingham Palace politely wrote back in March to say the king’s meetings would be decided upon by the Australian government. A meeting with the ARM does not appear on the official itinerary.

“Whether Australia becomes a republic is…a matter for the Australian public to decide,” said the letter from Buckingham Palace.

In a 1999 referendum, Australians decided to keep Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Most people believe that disagreement over how a president should be chosen, rather than majority support for a monarch, led to that outcome.

Subsequent to visiting Sydney and Canberra, which are 155 miles separated, Charles will then venture out to Samoa to open the yearly Republic Heads of Government Meeting.

In 2011, at the age of 85, his mother made the final of her 16 trips to Australia. She went to Canberra, Brisbane, and Melbourne on the east coast, and then she opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, which is on the west coast.

At the age of 27, Elizabeth went on her first exhausting tour of Australia, visiting numerous remote Outback towns; She was seen by an estimated 75% of the country’s population.

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At the time, Australia had a racist policy that favored British immigrants. Since 1973, immigration policy has not been discriminatory.

Anatolitis noted that the majority of the population in Australia is either born abroad or has a parent who was born abroad. As a result, the country is now much more multicultural.

In February, Buckingham Palace made it clear that doctors were treating Charles for an enlarged prostate when they discovered that he was being treated for an unknown type of cancer.

In the wake of stopping public appearances for a long time, Charles began illustrious duties in April 2024.

In March, Kensington Palace reported that Charles’ daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, had also been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer which was discovered during abdominal surgery.

Catherine made the announcement in September that she had successfully completed her chemotherapy regimen and that “doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus.”