Republican chief guarantees to be on ‘greatest behaviour’ for royal go to

A republican politician promised to be on his ‘best behaviour’ before greeting King Charles and Queen Camilla tonight as the royal tour of Australia began.

Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales, was among those welcoming the couple after they landed at Sydney Airport at 8.30pm local time (10.30am UK time).

Before greeting the King at the airport, the 45-year-old Labor politician said: ‘I’m a republican. You’ve asked me and I’m happy to tell you I’m a republican.

‘But I’m going to treat him as an honoured guest in New South Wales, which he genuinely is. I hope he has a great time here and I’ll be on my best behaviour.’

Mr Minns was accompanied by his mother Cara after his wife Anna became ill at the last minute. Sources told the Australian Daily Telegraph that Anna did not have Covid but she ‘wanted to take the precaution of not passing anything on to the King’. 

Mr Minns signed off £50,000 plans to light up the sails of the Sydney Opera House tonight with a loop of images from previous royal visits to welcome the royals.

The illumination had been due to begin at 8pm local time (10am UK time), 30 minutes before the couple were due to land at Sydney Airport – but ran into trouble.

It was delayed by a Cunard cruise ship called the Queen Elizabeth which blocked the projector after failing to sail out on time because of bad weather, reported ITV .

The display was organised 18 months after Mr Minns dumped similar plans set by the former coalition state government for the Coronation in May 2023 due to cost.

Chris Minns (right), Premier of New South Wales, greets King Charles at Sydney Airport today as the royal tour of Australia begins. Mr Minns was accompanied by his mother Cara (left)

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at a wet Sydney Airport in Australia this evening

Images from previous royal visits are projected onto the Sydney Opera House tonight

King Charles and Queen Camilla meet Prime Minster Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon at Admiralty House, home of the Governor General, in Sydney this evening 

The King laughs with Prime Minster Anthony Albanese at Admiralty House in Sydney tonight

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns speaks in front of the Sydney Opera House yesterday

Mr Minns is also among the six Australian state premiers who are expected to miss a reception for Charles and Camilla in Canberra on Monday.

Victoria’s Jacinta Allan, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas and Mr Minns have cabinet meetings to attend, Queensland premier Steven Miles is busy working on his election campaign, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff is on a US trade mission and Western Australia ‘s premier Roger Cook has other commitments.

This time, the government has allowed the projection on the Opera House, saying it ‘consists of a four-minute photo montage from Their Majesties’ previous visits to the state and the nation’.

A statement on Wednesday added that the ‘images reflect the diverse ways in which Their Majesties have engaged with and celebrated NSW and Australia over the years’.

Royal fans will also get the chance to see Charles and Camilla at the Sydney Opera House forecourt next Tuesday afternoon at 4.20pm local time – followed by a Fleet Review and flypast by the Australian Defence Force on Sydney Harbour until 5.20pm.

Tonight, at 8.30pm local time (10.30am UK time), the King and Queen arrived in the middle of a downpour at Sydney Airport for their hugely-anticipated royal visit.

The heavens opened around half an hour before Their Majesties were due to touch down for the start of their historic six-day royal tour to the country.

Pictures are projected onto Sydney Opera House after Charles and Camilla arrived tonight

Pictures are projected onto Sydney Opera House after Charles and Camilla arrived tonight

Images from previous royal visits are projected onto the Sydney Opera House tonight

A projection on the Sydney Opera House welcomes King Charles and Queen Camilla tonight

Pictures are projected onto Sydney Opera House after Charles and Camilla arrived tonight

Images from previous royal visits are projected onto the Sydney Opera House tonight

But just as they were about to step off their plane the rain eased off, enabling them to be greeted by a host of dignitaries including Prime Minster Anthony Albanese.

However Camilla, 77, still put her umbrella up and walked gingerly down the stairs of the plane and onto the Tarmac.

She was wearing a royal blue silk crepe dress by Fiona Clare, adorned with the Australian wattle brooch – a gift from the Australian people to Queen Elizabeth II.

The couple landed on an Australian government plane, which picked them up from Singapore after they flew there commercially.

It comes after a row last year over whether to illuminate the Opera House for the Coronation.

Mr Minns said at the time in May 2023 that the cost of £40,000 to £50,000 per night to light up the landmark was too much for Australian taxpayers to bear.

But Mr Minns said on Tuesday that it was important the King was warmly welcomed during his visit to Sydney.

He added that the ‘primary objective’ in lighting up the Opera House would be to focus on events taking place in the state capital.

Mr Minns told the Australian Daily Telegraph: ‘I’ve made the point previously in relation to the Opera House, when it comes to events that are taking place in Sydney that will be our primary objective.

Queen Camilla arrives at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

King Charles is greeted as he arrives at Sydney Airport for the official welcome tonight

Queen Camilla holds an umbrella as she walks off the plane at Sydney Airport this evening

Governor-General Sam Mostyn greets King Charles upon his arrival at Sydney Airport tonight

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at a wet Sydney Airport in Australia this evening

King Charles and Queen Camilla are greeted upon their arrival at Sydney Airport tonight

Australian officials greet King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Sydney Airport this evening

Queen Camilla arrives at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

The King and Queen arrive at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

‘The King is coming to Sydney and we obviously want to make sure he is warmly welcomed and that is what we’re going to do.’

And in a statement issued by the government on Wednesday, Mr Minns said: ‘We are lighting up the Sydney Opera House to warmly welcome the King and Queen to our beautiful harbour city.

‘The photo projection on the Opera House sails celebrates a historic moment – the King’s first visit to NSW as Sovereign – and is a fitting tribute.

‘I also invite everyone to the Opera House forecourt next Tuesday afternoon to join the King and Queen. NSW is looking forward to hosting this milestone visit and I encourage everyone to make the most of it.’

Earlier in the week, the premier said he had not changed his view that Australia should become a republic but that would not stop the red carpet being rolled out for the King during his first visit as monarch.

The Opera House sails were illuminated for 23 days in 2012 but that ballooned to more than 70 days in 2022, costing taxpayers up to £3.5million annually.

Requests to the government were still increasing and included ‘trivial matters’, the premier said previously.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomes King Charles at Sydney Airport tonight 

Queen Camilla arrives at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

Governor-General Sam Mostyn greets King Charles upon his arrival at Sydney Airport tonight

The King and Queen arrive at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

King Charles III arrives at Sydney Airport tonight as the royal tour of Australia begins

Governor-General Sam Mostyn greets King Charles upon his arrival at Sydney Airport tonight

Australian officials greet King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Sydney Airport this evening

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Sydney Airport tonight to begin their royal tour

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomes King Charles at Sydney Airport tonight

Australian officials greet King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Sydney Airport this evening

Queen Camilla arrives at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

The King and Queen arrive at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

At the time of the Coronation, Mr Minns explained his decision not to illuminate the Opera House by saying: ‘Of course I respect the new king but I’m mindful of where and when we spend taxpayers’ money.

‘I’d like to keep it for Australia and Australians, and for moments of sacrifice and heroism for the country – or when there’s an important international event in Sydney.’

Pro-monarchist groups blasted the move as ‘insulting’ at the time.

Since coming to office, the NSW Labor group has rejected a number of requests to light up the Opera House from various organisations and for religious events.

Just a few hours before the plane landed, the royal couple posted a video montage of previous royal tours of Australia alongside words of praise for the Commonwealth country.

The couple said: ‘Ahead of our first visit to Australia as King and Queen, we are really looking forward to returning to this beautiful country to celebrate the extraordinarily rich cultures and communities that make it so special. See you there! Charles R & Camilla R.’

The message was accompanied with archive footage of previous royal tours, including the late Queen’s first visit in 1954.

It is the King’s first visit as the country’s new sovereign and, fascinatingly, the first time in history a King of Australia has ever been to the country where he is head of state.

The only monarch to have visited so far was Queen Elizabeth II , the last time being just over a decade ago in 2011 to mark her Golden Jubilee.

Australian officials greet King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Sydney Airport this evening

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Sydney Airport tonight to begin their royal tour

Governor-General Sam Mostyn greets King Charles upon his arrival at Sydney Airport tonight

The King and Queen arrive at Sydney Airport in Australia for the royal welcome this evening

King Charles III gets into a vehicle after he and Camilla arrived at Sydney Airport tonight

Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales, greets Charles and Camilla at Sydney Airport today

The Australia tour begins as King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Sydney Airport tonight

King Charles III gets into a vehicle after he and Camilla arrived at Sydney Airport tonight

Governor-General Sam Mostyn (left) and her husband Simeon Beckett at Sydney Airport today

Queen Camilla sits in a car after arriving at Sydney Airport in Australia this evening

Her father, King George VI , was unable to travel there due to his ill health, while King George V never attempted the lengthy journey. 

Today, the King and Queen’s official arrival in Australia was marked by a formal welcome by several key federal and state representatives, including the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn, and her spouse, His Excellency Simeon Beckett.

She is the monarch’s most senior representative in-country and will be hosting the couple at her Admiralty House – her Victorian Italianate sandstone official residence, in the suburb of Kirribilli, which boasts commanding views of the Sydney Opera House – throughout their six-day visit.

The Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, was also amongst the welcoming party.

Before they depart Sydney Airport, the Queen was presented with a posy by a young boy named Ky, 12, from near Adelaide in South Australia, whose wish to meet Their Majesties was movingly being granted by the Make a Wish Foundation. He was accompanied by his sister Charlotte.

The Royal Australian Air Force jet carrying Charles and Camilla arrives in Sydney tonight

The plane transporting King Charles and Queen Camilla arrives tonight at Sydney Airport

Charles and Camilla land at Sydney Airport tonight at 8.30pm local time (10.30am UK time)

The Royal Australian Air Force jet carrying Charles and Camilla arrives in Sydney tonight

Ground crew and security officials wait in the rain for King Charles at Sydney Airport tonight

The motorcade for King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrives at Sydney Airport tonight

Ground crew and security officials wait in the rain for King Charles at Sydney Airport tonight

Reporters stand in the rain as they wait for Charles and Camilla to land at Sydney Airport today 

Later at Admiralty House, the King and Queen will enjoy a brief cup of tea with the Prime Minister and his partner, Jodie Haydon, before retiring to recover from their inevitable jet lag.

Royal tours of Australia: Security scares, a kiss and the baby republican slayer

A beach-side kiss from a model in a bikini, a shooting security scare and a formative teenage trip to the Outback are just some of the King’s experiences in Australia over the years.

Charles has embarked on his 16th official visit and 17th overall to Australia – and his first as the country’s monarch and for Queen Camilla in her role as consort.

The pair last travelled around the globe to the Commonwealth realm in 2018.

The prince was pictured in a feather headdress known as a mulka string and was given a spiritual blessing by the world didgeridoo master in the small Aboriginal community of Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem Land.

Camilla paddled barefoot on Broadbeach on the Gold Coast – but Charles kept his brogues on – and the couple attended the Commonwealth Games.

In 2015, Charles and Camilla were given their own elaborate boomerangs by a local artist during a visit to Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia.

A Diamond Jubilee tour in 2012 saw Charles and Camilla cuddle koalas at Government House in Adelaide, with Charles quipping ‘something ominous will run down’ about the animals’ reputation for having weak bladders.

As a 17-year-old prince, Charles spent two terms at Timbertop, a remote outpost of the Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne in 1966 as an exchange student.

Afterwards, he described it as a ‘most wonderful experience’.

He swam on the Barrier Reef, ran cattle in Queensland and attended a feast in New Guinea.

But he admitted that on occasions he was referred to by the traditional Australian epithet ‘pommy b*****d’.

His first official visit to Australia came in 1970 when he and sister Princess Anne joined Queen Elizabeth II’s tour.

In 1979, the eligible bachelor prince returned to represent his mother for the 150th anniversary of the state of Western Australia.

But the visit is famous for an encounter he had with a bikini-clad woman on a beach.

Charles was pounced on by model Jane Priest while taking an early morning dip, and images of the wave-side kiss were printed around the world.

Ms Priest later divulged the incident on Cottesloe Beach in Perth was a publicity stunt to try to make Charles appear more accessible.

She also recalled how the ‘adorable’ prince told her when she put her hands on his chest: ‘I can’t touch you.’

Within four years, Charles had married Lady Diana Spencer and they had welcomed his first child, Prince William.

The Prince and Princess of Wales undertook a six-week tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1983.

But in a modern move, going against royal convention, they took their baby son with them on the long-haul journey, rather than leaving him behind in the UK with nannies.

Ten-month-old William attended a photocall and crawled across a rug on the lawns of Government House in Auckland, New Zealand, watched by his parents.

Charles and Diana’s tours to Australia were, however, subject to tension.

Diana told her biographer Andrew Morton that she was thrown into the deep end and overwhelmed by the adulation she faced from the crowds in 1983 during her first major overseas trip, while Charles became jealous at the attention she received.

In 1988, the pair were pictured standing side by side in the sunshine in Wollongong, south of Sydney – but by then their relationship was in tatters.

Charles had already turned to his now-wife Camilla Parker Bowles and Diana was having an affair with cavalry officer James Hewitt.

More than 30 years after the Waleses took William to Australia, he returned with his own son Prince George and wife the then-Duchess of Cambridge.

They embarked on a royal tour to Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

Nine-month-old George was dubbed the ‘republican slayer’ for boosting the monarchy’s appeal on his first official overseas tour.

He met a bilby named after him, stole another baby’s toy on a play date and, according to his mother Kate, gained an extra fat roll while he was away.

Royal baby news coincided with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s 2018 tour, with Harry and Meghan announcing she was pregnant on the eve of a high-profile 16-day trip to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.

Highlights saw the Sussexes take a trip to Bondi beach where they were presented with garlands and sat on the sand to meet members of surfing community group One Wave.

Harry ran into difficulties during his gap year in 2003 when he worked as a jackaroo – an Australian cowboy – on a cattle ranch in Queensland.

He was besieged by photographers, sparking fears he might have to abandon the trip.

Sydney meanwhile was the scene of a major royal security scare for Harry’s father.

In 1994, there were dramatic scenes when student David Kang was wrestled to the ground after firing a starting pistol as Charles stood to make a speech.

The late Queen was the first reigning monarch to set foot in Australia, and made 16 trips in total – the first in 1954 and her last in 2011.

There was controversy during the Queen and Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh’s Golden Jubilee tour of 2002 when Philip asked an Aboriginal businessman: ‘Do you still throw spears at each other?’

Aboriginal cultural park owner William Brim replied: ‘No, we don’t do that any more.’

Mr Brim, who met the duke during a royal visit to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Park in northern Cairns, branded Philip a ‘larrikin’ (joker) and said he was not offended but described the question as ‘naive’.

On a tour by the Queen in 1992, the country’s then premier Paul Keating was dubbed the ‘Lizard of Oz’ after cameras caught him giving the monarch a helping hand at Canberra’s Parliament House by touching her back.

Charles III is now King of Australia, but his mother once thought about giving him a different job while he was waiting to accede to the throne.

She considered him as a future governor-general of Australia – the Queen’s representative in the realm – but only once he was married, archive documents from the 1970s suggested.

Speculation in the press had reached the prince, then a Royal Navy officer, who said in a interview if there was interest in him taking up the role he would be ‘delighted to consider it’.

Advertisement

Bravely the King, 75, has decided to pause his ongoing cancer treatment – as revealed exclusively by the Daily Mail last week – in order to undertake the visit to Australia, which will be immediately followed by a state visit to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In all the 30,000-mile round-trip will take him away from home for 11 days.

However doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress since his shock cancer diagnosis earlier this year for him to do this.

Buckingham Palace have not revealed what type of cancer he is suffering from or the treatment he is receiving.

All precautions are being taken to protect his health and recovery process, nevertheless.

As head of state he will be accompanied, it can be revealed, not by one but two UK doctors on the trip: one who specialises in general medicine and the other in ‘acute medicine’.

His health will be closely monitored by his own medics, who no doubt will have made arrangements with local hospitals in the unlikely event that further treatment should be needed.

As always his medical team will travel with a supply of his blood to ensure a match if ever a transfusion was needed, which is standard practice for the head of state.

Charles’ programme of engagements has also been ‘tweaked’ in order to pace events slightly better.

He and wife Camilla, 77, will enjoy a rest day on Saturday in order to recuperate from the flight, and aside from hosting the official ‘King’s dinner’ at CHOGM for Commonwealth Heads of State in Samoa next week, there are no evening engagements.

However the King will still be frequently attending around eight engagements a day through the trip and claims that staff have mandatorily factored in rest period every 45 minutes have been described as ‘so wide of the mark’.

A source told the Mail: ‘Yes, a dinner was ruled out in early planning to help lighten the programme and some downtime built in across the ten days.

‘But, no, His Majesty most definitely doesn’t need to rest every 45 minutes as people will see when the programme begins.’

The couple’s programme will take in all the normal formality and fun of a royal tour – from meetings with senior politicians to a traditional barbie.

The Queen will also be championing interests close to her heart including work against domestic violence and the promotion of literacy.

During the visit Charles will meet colleagues Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer, named as Australians of the year 2024 in recognition of their pivotal work on melanoma, one of Australia’s most common cancers.

Other highlights will see the royal couple spending time in the capital Canberra meeting leading figures and paying their respects to the country’s fallen.

Inevitably the visit has also raised debate about republicanism and the possibility of Australia’s independence from the Crown.

As revealed by the Daily Mail last Saturday, Charles has ‘politely declined’ a meeting with the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) but express his ‘deep love and affection’ for the country and emphasised that its future is a matter for its people to decide.

ARM has itself praised the ‘important contribution’ of the Royal Family and emphasised it is not anti-monarchist, saying it would like the country to retain close ties with the UK and Commonwealth.

However it says it believes it is now time to have an Australian-born head of state.

The last referendum on the issue was held in 1999 and saw almost 55 per cent vote no to becoming a republic.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Mr Albanese, himself a committed republican, kicked the issue into the long grass for the time being.

His government has put long-held plans for a new vote hold, saying it is ‘not a priority’ but the issue is still a matter of much debate.

Interestingly, Australian republicans do not plan to protest this week, saying they prefer to use the royal visit to amplify discussions around their cause on the and will use it to raise funds by selling ‘Farewell to Oz’ merchandise and tea towels.

The only expected protests will, bizarrely, be by British activists from anti-monarchist group Republic.

They claim not to be making a statement about what Australians should do but say they want to challenge the King’s role in representing the UK abroad.

This has angered many Australians, however, who say the British campaigners are interfering in their constitutional process.

Philip Benwell, national chair of the Australian Monarchist League (AML) said: ‘We only hope that the proposed protests by republicans, particularly by the head of English Republic, will not detract from the visit and not put people off from attending. He may have links to Australia but we don’t want him here.’

He praised the King’s ‘bravery’ in attempting the ‘arduous’ journey in spite of his cancer diagnosis.

‘It’s very brave of him to do so,’ Mr Benwell said, adding that there was an enormous amount of ‘goodwill’ for the royal visit.

‘There is a huge amount of affection for the Royal Family. People have a high regard for the King, for the work he has done, for his commitment to duty as the [late] Queen was committed to duty, as her father was before her, and before him George V,’ he said.

Mr Benwell said the AML had been ‘mobilising’ its supporters to hand our Australian flags to welcome their king with.

As for the issue of a republic, he explained: ‘It’s not so much about the King as an individual or a royal but about our system of government and our constitution, which is based on the Crown which best protects our freedoms and our democracy.

‘It keeps politicians from absolute power. Having the King… as our sovereign head of state and protector of the Australian constitution means that other politicians and big business cannot influence the system.

‘The system is impartial and that is why we have had an unparalleled stability in this country for over 100 years since our constitution first came into being in 1901.

‘Our founding fathers put the constitution in the hands of the people so that only the people could amend it.’

The AML’s spokesman for the tour, Alexander Voltz, said the organisation was preparing more than 15,000 Australians flags to hand out to fans awaiting the royals.

New South Wales Police declined to be drawn on whether the English-based protests that have been planned had added to their security pressure but said: ‘A police operation will be undertaken during the duration of the visit of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla later this month.

‘The priority for the NSW Police Force is to ensure the safety of the visiting dignitaries and the community.’

His Majesty’s relationship with Australia began in 1966, when, as Prince of Wales, he spent two terms at Geelong Grammar School. In total, he has visited Australia sixteen times, both whilst serving in The Royal Navy and on official visits.

A photograph issued on July 14 by the Australian Government of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace, which was released to mark the royal visit to Australia

2018 — Prince Charles and Camilla walk on Broadbeach on the Gold Coast of Australia 

2015 — Charles and Camilla hold elaborate boomerangs given to them at Kings Park Perth

2012 — Charles and Camilla hold koalas at Government House in Adelaide

2005 — Charles and Camilla outside the Sydney Opera House during a royal visit to Australia

1994 — Charles joins dancers after a performance at an aboriginal cultural centre in Sydney

1970 – Queen Elizabeth II with Princess Anne and Charles at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney

1966 — Charles visits in Sydney during another previous royal tour to Australia

This will be Her Majesty The Queen’s fourth visit to Australia, her first being in 2012, when she accompanied His Majesty to the country as part of The late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour.

Dr George Gross, royal historian and visiting research fellow at King’s College London, previously said: ‘This is a tour of significant firsts. Although King Charles III has travelled to Australia many times, this will be his first visit there as sovereign and the first tour to the country by a reigning monarch since 2011.

‘It will also be the King’s first official overseas tour since his cancer diagnosis, his first to a Commonwealth realm and, while visiting Samoa, he will lead the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of his reign.

‘It is notable too that he is visiting Australia in the year after his coronation, as this echoes the 1954 tour by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II following her coronation in 1953.’