CNN
—
British Charles III and Queen Camilla I’m heading to Australia in the fall.
The royal couple Australia Buckingham Palace announced on Sunday that members of the royal family will visit Samoa in October to attend this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as part of their autumn tour.
The visit to Australia will be the 75-year-old British monarch’s first visit to a Commonwealth country since ascending to the throne. Prince Charles is also head of state of 14 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, in a largely ceremonial role.
Prince Charles and Camilla are visiting Australia “at the invitation of the Australian Government” and “have events planned in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales,” the palace said in a statement.
The last time he visited Australia with his wife was six years ago, at a convention on the Gold Coast. 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is held every two years and is hosted by a rotating member state. This year’s meeting in Samoa, which will be hosted by Prince Charles for the first time as head of the organisation, will have the theme “One Resilient Future: Transforming our Common Wealth”, and will bring together delegates from 56 member states.
“Their Majesties’ state visit to Samoa will celebrate the strong bilateral relationship between the Pacific Island nations and the UK,” the palace added.
Charles is Resumes official duties in April As he continues to undergo cancer treatment, he has had a busy schedule over the summer holidays. D-Day Commemorations In France.
More recently, following Labour’s victory, he appointed Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Overwhelming victory After the vote, the couple visited Scotland for Holyrood Week, an annual celebration of Scottish culture, and on Thursday visited the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff to mark 25 years of Welsh devolution. On Monday, the royals will head to the Channel Islands for a two-day visit.
Further details of the royal couple’s autumn tour are expected to be revealed in the coming months, but a palace spokesman said that, as with all of Prince Charles’ recent engagements, “his programme in both countries will be subject to medical advice and any necessary changes for health reasons.”
Some may wonder why the royal couple aren’t going to New Zealand while in the region. A palace spokesman said the decision was made in consultation with the king’s medical team, who were advised that “any such lengthy programme should be avoided at this time” to prioritise the king’s continued recovery.
“After close consultation with the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, and fully considering time and logistical pressures, it has been agreed to limit the visit to Samoa and Australia only,” the spokesman said.
“Their Majesties extend their heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to all parties involved for their continued support and understanding,” it added.
It has been noted that the King has not visited any Commonwealth country since his accession to the throne. Presented as France and Germany. continue, Kenyais a member of the Commonwealth but is not a kingdom.
Receive our free Royal Newsletter
• Subscribe to CNN’s Royal NewsA weekly look at what’s going on inside the Royal Family, what they’re doing in public and what’s happening behind the scenes at the Palace.
Prince Charles’ visit to Australia will be a key test of his popularity as head of state. The country, which became a British colony in 1788, has long debated whether it still needs a distant monarch. A 1999 referendum on the issue saw people vote 55 percent to 45 percent in favor of maintaining a constitutional monarchy.
In other Commonwealth countries, the death of Queen Elizabeth has sparked renewed efforts to sever ties with the monarch and become republics, with the scale of these efforts varying from country to country. But in Australia, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s pro-republic views, We will immediately push in that direction.
Albanese had proposed holding a referendum on whether the country should become a republic if he won a second term in 2025, but the plan appears to have been shelved in order to focus on more pressing domestic issues, including the cost of living crisis.