King Charles reveals how he feels about returning to Australia | world news

Charles has said he is “overjoyed” to be back in Australia for the first time since becoming king.

The reigning monarch is on a six-day tour of the nation with the Queen, where the couple plan to celebrate its people, culture and heritage.

It is the King’s first major trip abroad since he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

The couple arrived on Friday evening, marking the king’s sixteenth official visit to the country, where he attended school for six months as a teenager in 1966.

During their first stop, they visited the Parliament of New South Wales, where the King presented the assembly with an hourglass, handmade by the Goldsmith’s Center in London.

The hourglass, which the king joked would be a “speech timer” for politicians, sits on a cedar base with the wood supplied from the king’s home of Highgrove.

In a speech to Parliament, he said: “With the sands of time encouraging brevity, I can only say what a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as a sovereign, and to renew my love for this country and its people that I have loved for so long.’

Earlier, Charles and Camilla were greeted at St Thomas’ Anglican Church by the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, and children from the church’s Sunday school waving Australian flags.

The minister’s wife, Ellie Mantle, presented the Queen with a bouquet of flowers, who asked if they had recovered from jet lag after the long flight to Australia on Friday. “Yes,” Camilla replied.

The couple then signed two Bibles, including one that belonged to Australia’s prime minister and chaplain from the First Fleet of ships that brought criminals from Britain to the Australian penal colony in 1788.

All members of the royal family have signed the Bible, which belonged to the Reverend Richard Johnson, the first Christian minister in Australia, on previous royal visits to Australia.

Before their arrival, several Australian politicians stated that they will not have time to see the royal couple during their visit.

They will meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday before attending a reception in Canberra.

But the premiers of Australia’s six states – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania – confirmed they will not attend the King and Queen’s reception due to prior commitments.

While it is unclear what the prior commitments are, Charles and Camilla’s visit comes against a backdrop of growing republican sentiment in Australia and calls for “decolonization” and reparations for Australia’s indigenous aborigines.

During Charles and Camilla’s visit to the church, a small group of anti-monarchists and supporters of First Nations resistance to colonization carried a banner with the words “Decolonize”.

They said they wanted the king to support reparations for Australia’s indigenous aborigines.

Wayne Wharton said: “We respectfully call on King Charles to start the decolonization process, to join the Australian government and negotiate reparations with Aboriginal people for the illegal settlement and colonization of so-called Australia.”

Kanishka Raff, Archbishop of Sydney, officiated at the service which featured hymns and prayers and said afterwards: “This church has a family connection with Her Majesty because her great-grandfather laid the cornerstone as a teenager.”

He added: “It was lovely for this local church to be able to welcome His Majesty King Charles and Queen Camilla to join us in worship today. We are absolutely thrilled.’

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