Thousands turn out to farewell King and Queen after visit
The King and Queen Camilla waved farewell to thousands of well-wishers who queued near the Opera House in Sydney and will head to the Pacific on Wednesday after the first visit of a reigning king to Australia.
Thousands of people queued for almost a kilometre in the hope of grabbing a glimpse of the royals during their biggest public event of the trip on Tuesday.
King Charles shook many hands, including a group who sang “God Save The King”, while Queen Camilla crouched to meet with children who would “never forget” the experience.
The pair signed the guest book at the Sydney Opera House before hitting the harbour to review the naval fleet after defence force helicopters flew over.
Earlier, the King briefly manned the tongs at a community barbecue at Parramatta in western Sydney, where he was presented a framed surf livesavers’ cap.
Chants of “You’re on stolen land” and “No pride in genocide” came as King Charles met with elders at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern on Tuesday morning.
It followed Senator Lidia Thorpe telling the monarch “You are not our king” during a parliamentary reception in Canberra on Monday, with the fallout from the outburst continuing on Tuesday with the independent MP rejecting calls from her rivals to resign.
But the King received a warmer welcome from the Indigenous elders, after a smoking ceremony in the centre’s courtyard.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla visited nearby food-rescue charity Refettorio OzHarvest.
Next stop on the royal itinerary is Samoa for a biannual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting but the King will still face Australian influences.
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The Minderoo Foundation – started by the Australian mining billionaire Forrest family – is using the meeting of leaders to champion its campaign against plastic chemicals and their impact on human health.
Meeting participants will be greeted at the airport by confronting advertisements showing a child vomiting plastic.
“Our children deserve to have a future where their bodies are not involuntary riddled with dangerous chemicals stemming from plastic,” Minderoo Foundation director Jay Weatherill said.
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