British King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Sydney, Australia on October 20, 2024
Saeed Khan
King Charles III attended a religious service this Sunday (20) and, in his first public appearance since arriving in the country, expressed his “great joy” at returning to Australia.
The 75-year-old sovereign arrived in Sydney with Queen Camilla on Friday night, but rested on Saturday as he follows a schedule that balances his cancer recovery with royal duties.
His first official public appearance was at mass at St Thomas’ Anglican Temple in North Sydney, a stone structure built as a place of worship for British residents.
Hundreds of people gathered around the building cheering, waving flowers and flags. Two women displayed a sign with the phrase “Good morning, Your Excellency.”
Linton Martin, 22, drove 22 hours from Melbourne and arrived wearing a Union Jack jacket to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.
“I wanted to show that we support the king and welcome him,” the young man told AFP. Last year he traveled to London for Charles’s coronation, an event he described as “brilliant”.
During the service, Bishop Christopher Edwards prayed for peace and an end to wars and for the prosperity of the Commonwealth summit hosted by Charles in Samoa, the first meeting of the 54-nation British Commonwealth that he attends as king.
-Reduced schedule –
Charles later made a brief statement in the New South Wales Legislative Council, where he praised “the promise and power of representative democracy” and joked about his age.
“I first came to Australia almost 60 years ago, which is a bit worrying,” he said.
He said, “I can only express my immense pleasure in coming to Australia for the first time as Sovereign and renewing the love for this country and its people that I have long cherished.”
Charles will spend the rest of Sunday at Admiralty House, a waterfront mansion that serves as the Sydney residence of Australia’s Governor-General, the monarchy’s representative in the country.
Fans will get another chance to see the king on Monday, when he travels to the capital Canberra with Queen Camilla for the busiest part of his schedule.
Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer eight months ago, is on a nine-day visit to Australia and Samoa.
Normally, visits by the royal family are accompanied by parades through the streets filled with flag-waving supporters. This time, the emperor’s fragile health meant that he had little in the way of pomp.
The modest event should also help allay monarchy opponents’ concerns about excessive spending and lavish banquets.
Separate protesters gathered near the church on Sunday to call for Australia to “decolonise”.
According to a recent survey, approximately one third of Australians are in favor of abolishing the monarchy, one third in favor of maintaining it and one third have no opinion on the matter.
However, enthusiasm for the monarchy in 2024 is much less significant than the last royal visit in 2011, when thousands of people welcomed Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
