The King and Queen are visiting Australia and Samoa this month.
The visit to Australia will be Charles’s first to a Commonwealth Realm as monarch, whilst the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa is the first The King will attend as Head of the Commonwealth.The visits encompass an “Autumn Tour” from Friday October 18 to Saturday October 26.It will begin with a visit to Parliament House in Canberra where the royal couple will be welcomed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and King Charles is due to address a reception of political leaders and prominent Australians.
They will then lay a wreath at the Australian War Memorial and visit the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial before conducting a Fleet Review of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbour.
The King will also visit the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, meeting firefighters and learning about the centre’s work to combat the bush fires which devastate Australia each year.
Both the King and Queen will tour the National Botanic Gardens before Charles, who has been receiving treatment for cancer, will meet Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer to hear about the work they do to help people affected by melanoma.
The visit will also be marked by Graham Smith, chief executive officer of the UK organisation Republic, leading small symbolic anti-monarchy demonstrations in the Australian capital of Canberra and Sydney next week.Prime Minister Albanese has a long-held aim of holding a referendum on breaking ties with the British monarchy and his country becoming a republic.
But the plans were put on hold after Australians overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give greater political rights to Indigenous people in a referendum held last year.
The tour will also see the Queen visit a library in Sydney where she will meet children taking part in her Commonwealth Essay Competition before going on to Canberra for a discussion on domestic violence.
The couple will also attend a community BBQ in Western Sydney before travelling on to Samoa where they will be formally welcomed with an traditional ‘Ava Fa’atupu ceremony.
The King will also will visit a mangrove forest and a National Park and plant a tree in Samoa’s Botanical Garden as part of his long-standing commitment to the environment while the Queen will visit a traditional Samoan school to see how they teach literacy and visit a support group for survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 (CHOGM) will take place in Apia, Samoa from 21 to 26 October.The King and Queen will attend the opening ceremony of the Heads of Government meeting and will host a dinner for world leaders.
Charles will also attend a business forum looking at solutions to tackle climate change while the Queen will visit an event focusing on eliminating violence against women.
