King Charles III Visits Australia

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Facts

  • UK monarch King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney, Australia, Friday evening (local time) to begin a royal tour.[1][2]
  • This is the royal couple's first trip to Australia since 2018 and Charles' first trip as King. His mother and predecessor, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was the first British monarch to make the trip to Australia.[2][3]
  • The King was greeted on the airport tarmac, with a photo montage of Charles' previous visits to Australia displayed on the sails of the Sydney Opera House.[4][3]
  • Charles will visit the Australian and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war memorials, attend environmental events and a community barbecue, and visit the Opera House. His 11-day trip will also include a trip to Samoa for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.[4]
  • The Australian Republic Movement, which wants Australia to break from the monarchy, has dubbed it 'Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour,' as it hopes Australia will vote to become a Republic.[5]
  • Australia held a republic referendum in 1999, where 45.1% voted for and 54.9% voted against removing the monarchy with a 95.1% turnout.[6]

Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]The Telegraph, [3]Abc, [4]CNN, [5]Sky News and [6]Australian Electoral Commission.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Vanity Fair. While the King's visit will undoubtedly reignite the republic debate, there is still much to celebrate about this tour and its history. Charles, as his mother did before him, is setting out to meet thousands of loyal fans and engage in serious political discussions. Whether Australia becomes a Republic or not, there's still plenty of joy surrounding the historic event.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Australian Republic Movement. Australia has tens of thousands of years of independent history that has been overshadowed by British colonial rule. Instead of allowing Charles, his son, and his grandson to rule over the country for the next hundred years, the Australian people should remove them from power and elect their own head of state.

Predictions