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Britain’s Charles and Camilla begin landmark tour of Australia

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are greeted by Sam Mostyn, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia as they arrive at Sydney Airport on Oct. 18, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. The King's visit to Australia will be his first as Monarch, and CHOGM in Samoa will be his first as Head of the Commonwealth. (Victoria Jones/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS)
By Tony Jones Deutsche Presse-Agentur

SYDNEY – Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla have begun a landmark tour of Australia that will see them celebrate the country’s people, culture and heritage.

The six-day trip to Canberra and Sydney will be Charles’ first to Australia as its head of state, and comes as he continues to receive cancer treatment.

Australia’s Governor-General Sam Mostyn and her husband Simeon Beckett greeted the royal couple alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his fiancee Jodie Haydon and other dignitaries.

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.”

As drops of rain fell at Sydney airport, Charles and Camilla walked down the steps of an Australian Royal Air Force plane that carried the royal party as the King is Australia’s head of state.

Charles has visited Australia more than 15 times since the 1960s and has enjoyed some memorable trips, from studying at a remote outpost of a grammar school when a 17-year-old to being kissed by a bikini-clad model as he emerged from the sea.

The King and Queen will later travel to Samoa for a three-day state visit and meet world leaders taking part in a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which Charles will formally open.

Mostyn, the King’s representative in Australia, is a prominent businesswoman whose career has spanned executive roles in the worlds sport, the arts and gender equality alongside business, and she introduced Charles to a line of dignitaries.

Among them were the Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley, and New South Wales’ Premier Chris Minns.

The King had walked down the plane’s steps holding an umbrella as his wife sheltered under her own after the airport had been deluged, just 30 minutes before their arrival.