Thousands of Australians got close to the King and Queen in Sydney and Canberra, and then it was over. Charles and Camilla farewelled the country on 23 October. It was his first visit to Australia as sovereign and his first to any realm as monarch.
The trip had been billed by its critics as a goodbye. Before the couple arrived, the Australian Republican Movement launched a campaign calling the visit “Monarchy – The Farewell Oz Tour”, with a logo of Charles, Camilla and the Prince of Wales in aviator sunglasses. Esther Anatolitis, the group’s co-chair, said in a video on X: “By all means, let’s welcome Charles and Camilla to Australia, but let’s see this as the last visit of a sitting monarch.”
She asked why Australia still has a king, and whether it makes sense for a head of state to inherit the job by birthright and not live in the country full time. The movement also claimed that 40 per cent of Australians do not realise Charles is their head of state.
Monarchists fired back. Philip Benwell, chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, pointed to a new poll that put support for a republic at 33 per cent, against 45 per cent for keeping the monarchy. He said the poll “challenges the Australian Republican Movement’s narrative”, and that calling it a last tour was “terribly disrespectful” to a king in the middle of a cancer fight. The King, then 75, had paused his treatment to make the trip. “He should be applauded for his bravery,” Benwell said.
The six state premiers announced ahead of time that they would skip the Canberra reception on the Monday. Victoria’s Jacinta Allan, South Australia’s Peter Malinauskas and New South Wales’ Chris Minns cited cabinet meetings. Queensland’s Steven Miles said he was working on his election campaign. Tasmania’s Jeremy Rockliff was on a trade mission to the United States, and Western Australia’s Roger Cook said only that he had “other commitments”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has long wanted a referendum on becoming a republic, but those plans were shelved after Australians overwhelmingly rejected an Indigenous rights proposal at a referendum the year before. The last republic vote came in 1999, when almost 55 per cent of voters said no.
From Australia the King and Queen flew on to Samoa for a state visit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Sources
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