SYDNEY (AFP) – King Charles III touched down in Australia yesterday, kicking off the most strenuous foreign trip since his life-changing cancer diagnosis eight months ago.
After a gruelling 20-plus hour journey, the 75-year-old monarch and his wife Queen Camilla landed in a rain-sodden Sydney, greeted by local dignitaries and posy-bearing children.
“We are really looking forward to returning to this beautiful country to celebrate the extraordinarily rich cultures and communities that make it so special,” the couple said in a social media post ahead of their arrival.
The king is on a nine-day tour of his far-flung Australian and Samoan realms that will feature a public barbecue, famed landmarks and reminders about pressing climate dangers.
He is the first reigning sovereign to set foot Down Under since 2011, when thronging crowds flocked to catch a white-gloved wave from his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
His long-planned trip is designed to bolster the monarchy among an increasingly ambivalent Australian public. There was an early hiccup, however.
Plans to project a montage of images of Charles onto the sails of Sydney’s famed Opera House were briefly delayed because a cruise ship called the Queen Elizabeth was blocking the view.
