Damaging details about the feuding British royal family emerging from Prince Harry's media blitz have sparked fresh calls for a republic.
The rifts between Prince Harry and the rest of his family have been on full display in his prematurely released memoir, Spare, and a series of promotional TV interviews.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said the coverage revealed the extent of the damage and trauma within the royal family and raised questions about Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy.
"At one level, it's gossip. At another level, it's a shame to see a family bust-up, but perhaps at the deepest level, why do we still need to keep following a dysfunctional British family to be the head of state of Australia?" he told Nine's Today program.
Australian Republic Movement chair Craig Foster said King Charles failed to adequately represent the views of millions of Australians.
"I doubt whether Charles would be elected to a local P&C in Australia," he told AAP.
Mr Foster said Australia had extraordinary and diverse human capital that meant it could make its own way in the world.
"Being ruled by a monarchy any longer must be acknowledged as an impossibility as a reconciled nation of over 270 backgrounds and 65,000 years of survival in the face of attempted genocide," he said.
