King Charles III is preparing for what will be one of the busiest weeks of his life.
With the coronation now just days away, the monarch made time to meet Australian charity workers taking part in a six-month torch relay, from France to Albany.
Legacy Australia, which assists veterans and their families, turns 100 this year.
The charity is celebrating its centenary in a special way — with the torch relay that began in France on Monday.
Outside Buckingham Palace, King Charles watched on as the relay officially began its London leg.
He inspected the torch that would receive the flame and observed the transfer taking place.
Calum Hutcheson has been fundraising for Legacy since he was 14 and is one of the London torchbearers who met the King.
"On a week like this, it is phenomenal to have someone of his level … I thought he would be tied up with preparations, but to have him involved with a charity like Legacy, it means the world," Mr Hutcheson said.
Another torchbearer, Corporal Daniel Keighran, said the king's attendance at the lighting ceremony was an opportunity "to continue to promote what legacy does."
Corporal Keighran will remain in London to participate in official coronation events as part of the Guard of Chivalry next week.
"I am a bit excited to be here again and representing Australia … I'll be in uniform for the first time in a long time, so I'll have a shave between now when you see me again next week, and I'll be wearing that slouch hat with pride."
Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Stephen Smith also attended the relay event in London, the only city outside of Australia with a Legacy club.
Legacy Australia chairperson Eric Easterbrook said Buckingham Palace was a fitting location for the handover to take place.
"We've got a long history associated with the palace; the king's late father was an honorary legatee of Sydney Legacy and the connection has been there for many, many years," Mr Easterbrook said.
"Starting off here in London is a really exciting aspect of it. We will take the torch back to Australia, to Albany, which is where our first troops left from in the 38-vessel convoy."
The torch was first lit at a ceremony at Pozieres, France, where the ethos of the charity originated.
"Where the promise was first given, in Pozieres in France, that was to one dying figure from his mate, saying basically 'I'll look after your family'," Graham Boyd, Legacy Australia CEO, told RN on ANZAC Day.
Mr Boyd said the torch was an ode to Legacy's symbol – the eternal flame.
Following the London leg of the relay, the torch will the head to Australia.
Arriving in Albany in Western Australia on May 3, the torch will travel to all 44 Legacy Clubs across the country, concluding in Melbourne in October.
In all, the torch will travel more than 50,000 kilometres through 100 locations, carried by approximately 1,500 torch bearers who have a connection to Legacy or the defence community.
