King Charles and Queen Camilla are currently swanning their way through Sydney and Canberra on a mini Australian Royal Visit. The pair will be here until Wednesday October 23, before heading to Samoa for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Of course, Aussies are reacting in very different ways. There are a bunch of royalists who have been gagging for a look at Charles’ sausage fingers in person and lining up for a royal wave. Then there’s the anti-monarchists, who don’t have time for colonisation.
The two groups clashed on Sunday morning, when Charles and Camilla visited a church in North Sydney. Some royalists had been lining up since dawn outside the St Thomas’ Anglican Church, so I guess they were a bit tetchy.
Protesters held up banners that read “Empire built on genocide. Not our king” and “decolonise”. The group used a megaphone to get their message across, with chants of “Aboriginal Land, Always Was, Always Will Be” being heard.
Their actions didn’t go down well with royal fans, and the groups traded some harsh words. Protesters chanted “you are guilty” and “go home”, with one royalist telling them to “get lost”.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has since come out and defended the right to protest on Sunrise.
“People have a right to protest, they should do it peacefully and lawfully, but I am looking forward to meeting King Charles later today in Canberra,” she told the hosts.
“I am a republican, but I like him. I think he stands for some good things and I have always said that as a republican I want to make the case for an Australian republic, not against the British monarchy.”
This isn’t the first time a royal visit to Australia has spurred people on to protest. In 1994, Aussie barrister David Kang fired two blanks from his starting pistol at Charles. He was criticising the treatment Cambodian asylum seekers had been receiving.
Charles and Camilla will be making a big appearance on Tuesday at the Sydney Opera House, so I have a feeling there will be more protests to come.
Lead image: Getty
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