King Charles hit with 'petty insults' from Australia just days before royal tour

Alongside the Queen, the King will attend a range of events aimed at fostering relationships between communities.

The visit includes a reception in Canberra later this week, but the six state premiers of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania have said they are unable to attend.

Bev McArthur of the Australian Monarchist League said the premier's actions were "insulting".

She added: "They should just take off their republican hats, make the short trip to Canberra, say 'Hi and thank you for coming to Australia'."

Victoria's premier Jacinta Allan said she could not attend because she had a cabinet meeting.

Her deputy, Ben Carroll, also refused the invitation, meaning Allan's parliamentary secretary Nick Staikos will represent the state.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said he could not attend because he was currently working on his election campaign, while Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he was on a US trade mission.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns also said they were attending a cabinet meeting.

A spokesperson for Western Australia's premier Roger Cook said he had "other commitments".

Bev McArthur told the BBC: "The failure of state premiers to attend the reception in Canberra is completely indefensible."

She accused them of "gesture-led politics" and said she remains unconvinced by the excuses from the regional heads of Government, adding it was "petty" and "inhospitable".

Charles and Camilla are due to arrive in Australia on Friday.

They will be heading to Sydney and Canberra, where protests are planned in a nation recently branded the most "woke country in the world".

It also comes as a new poll in Australia showed support for the monarchy remains high as the King set to embark on a historic tour of the country on Friday.

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The poll found one in four people have a more favourable view of King Charles than they did before he was crowned.

Just one in three thought ­Australia should become a republic, down on the 39.4 per cent who voted that way in the ­country's ­referendum in 1999.

However, republican activities have been on the rise, as a statue of King George V was decapitated in Melbourne in June by vandals from "The Colony Must Fall".

Also, in January, attacks on statues of Captain Cook and Queen Victoria before Australia Day sparked more outrage.