King Charles makes first tour of Australia as monarch

On Tuesday, King Charles III concluded a quick tour of Australia, making this his 17th trip to the country, as reported by The New York Times.
Charles was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, for the duration of the trip.
The couple watched a dance performance at the Sydney Indigenous community center, visited a food bank, prepped food at a community barbecue, met with leading cancer researchers, participated in a fleet review in Sydney Harbour and celebrated the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary with locals, per the BBC.
“Their Majesties are deeply grateful to the very many thousands who turned out to support them, and are only sorry they didn’t have a chance to stop and talk to every single one. The warmth and scale of the reception was truly awesome,” a royal source told ABC News.
The brief tour of Australia lasted six days and was scaled down per advice from Charles’ doctors, reports The New York Times. The monarch was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in February and is still undergoing treatment. He returned to public duties in April.
Despite taking a downsized approach to the royal tour of Australia, Charles’ hasty visit came to an “ideal ending,” as reported by the BBC.
“The optics were positive,” the U.K. outlet noted. “The public mood on the ground in Sydney was supportive.”
Charles’ visit went smoothy for the most part, but one incident made snappy headlines early this week.
While wrapping up his remarks at the Australia Parliament on Monday, Charles was heckled by an Australian senator, per The Associated Press.
“You committed genocide against our people,” Lidia Thorpe, an independent Australian senator and Indigenous activist shouted above the crowd, per ABC News. “Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us — our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want treaty.”
“You are not our king, you are not sovereign … You destroyed our land,” she said.
Thorpe was hurried out of the building by security guards, per The New York Times.
Prior to the interruption, the king was introduced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, per PBS. Albanese has expressed a desire to make Australia a republic with an Australian head of state. Australia is still a constitutional monarchy with Charles at the head of state.
“You have shown great respect for Australians, even during times when we have debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the Crown,” Albanese said. But, he added, “nothing stands still.”