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As King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s royal tour to the Pacific draws closer, Buckingham Palace has shared the details about the cities and sights the pair will visit upon their journey down under. Arriving in Australia on October 18, the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will conduct duties in Canberra and Sydney, before travelling to Samoa to attend the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the capital of Apia.
They will begin their itinerary in the ACT with a visit to the Australian War Memorial where they will lay a wreath for the fallen and attend the sculptural pavilion ‘For our Country’ at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial. Afterwards, they will head up the Hume Highway where they plan to review a naval fleet on Sydney Harbour, attend a community barbeque in Western Sydney and meet with various local groups that align with their charitable causes. Queen Camilla is reported to join a discussion on domestic and family violence attended by victim-survivors and experts in the field, too.
It’s a significant moment in King Charles’ tenure as monarch. Not only is the trip the first time he will visit a Commonwealth territory—or ‘realm’ as the royals call it—since his coronation, but it’s also a turning point in his recent health struggles. The 75-year-old returned to public duties earlier this year after announcing his battle with cancer would sideline him from work for three months. Speaking to TIME, one expert said of the excursion that King Charles “doesn’t just want to be a sort of caretaker king, waiting in a sense for his own death and the accession of [Prince William]”.
Though, the exercise hasn’t already been without controversy. Australian monarchists have accused state premieres of “insulting” the sovereigns for failing to attend a welcome reception at Parliament House. Instead, the King and Queen will be met by “political and community leaders, and prominent Australians who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in a variety of fields, including health, arts, culture and sports,” as per the palace’s statement.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will conclude their tour on October 26. They currently have no further travel plans in place. Australia has paid host to several important royal tours, including the watershed 2018 visit by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II’s inaugural tour as resigning monarch in 1953. Ahead, some of the best moments from King Charles’ visits to Australia over the years.
