King Charles makes first tour of Australia as monarch – Deseret News

King Charles III wrapped up a brief tour of Australia on Tuesday, making it his 17th trip to the country, The New York Times reported.

During the trip, Charles was accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla.

The couple watched a dance performance at a Sydney Indigenous community centre, visited a food bank, cooked at a community barbecue, met leading cancer researchers, took part in a fleet audit on Sydney Harbor and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House with local residents. according to the BBC.

“Their Majesties are deeply grateful to the many thousands of people who came to support them, and only regret that they did not have the opportunity to stop and talk with each of them. The warmth and scale of the reception was truly amazing,” a royal source told ABC News.

The short tour of Australia lasted six days and was cut short on the advice of Charles’ doctors, The New York Times reports. The monarch was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in February and is still undergoing treatment. He returned to public duties in April.

Despite the limited approach to the royal tour of Australia, Charles’ rushed visit ended with a “perfect ending”, the BBC reported.

“Visibility was positive,” the British publication noted. “The public mood in Sydney was favourable.”

Charles’ visit went smoothly for the most part, but one incident made headlines earlier this week.

As Charles concluded his speech in the Australian Parliament on Monday, Charles was criticized by an Australian senator, the Associated Press reported.

“You have committed genocide against our people,” Lydia Thorpe, an independent Australian senator and indigenous activist, shouted over the crowd, according to ABC News. “Give us back our land. Give us back what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a contract. We want an agreement.”

“You are not our king, you are not our sovereign… You destroyed our land,” she said.

According to The New York Times, Thorpe was kicked out of the building by security guards.

Before the break, the king was introduced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, PBS reported. Albanese expressed a desire to make Australia a republic with an Australian head of state. Australia is still a constitutional monarchy with Charles as head of state.

“You showed great respect for Australians even as we debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the Crown,” Albanese said. But, he added, “nothing stands still.”