Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla attend Sydney church on royal tour of Australia
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
King Charles (left) and Queen Camilla arriving for a visit to St Thomas’ Anglican Church in Sydney on Oct 20.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
SYDNEY - Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla attended a service at St Thomas’ Anglican Church with residents in North Sydney on Oct 20, the first event of their Australia tour.
The royal couple were met by Sydney Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and children from the church’s Sunday school, who waved Australian flags.
Queen Camilla, wearing a pale green Anna Valentine dress and straw hat, was given a flower bouquet by the church minister’s wife, Mrs Ellie Mantle, who asked if they had recovered from jet lag after a long flight to Australia on Oct 18. “Sort of,” Queen Camilla replied.
Inside the church, King Charles and Queen Camilla signed two Bibles, including one that belonged to Australia’s first minister and chaplain of the First Fleet of ships that took convicts from Britain to the penal colony of Australia in 1788.
Outside, the royal couple shook hands and chatted with families and cheering fans, some singing God Save The King, who lined the streets around the church, in the public’s first opportunity to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla since they arrived in Australia’s biggest city late on Oct 19.
Travelling across Sydney Harbour, King Charles visited the New South Wales Parliament, marking the 200th anniversary of Australia’s oldest legislature.
The King presented the lawmakers with an hourglass to time their speeches, and highlighted the fundamental role of strong Parliaments to democracy.
“Democracy has, I believe, an extraordinary capacity for innovation, compromise and adaptability as well as stability,” he said.
King Charles is making his inaugural visit to an overseas realm as sovereign, and his first major foreign trip since being diagnosed with cancer in January.
It is his 16th official visit to Australia, where he attended school for six months as a teenager in 1966, and spoke at the 150th anniversary of the New South Wales Parliament in 1974.
“What a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as sovereign and to renew a love of this country and its people, which I have cherished for so long,” he said.
He will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa after the six-day Australia tour.
King Charles had made a significant personal donation to create a skills programme to tackle climate change and boost higher education in small island states, including the Pacific Islands, the Association of Commonwealth Universities said on Oct 20.
“Throughout my life, I have believed in the power of education to improve lives and unite communities across the Commonwealth and beyond,” he said in a statement.
Mid-career professionals and civil servants will benefit from the fellowships, in a programme that aims to retain talent in small island states and bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels. REUTERS
