King Charles and Queen Camilla release new details ahead of tour of Australia and Samoa

King Charles and Queen Camilla

The King and Queen are heading to Samoa and Australia at the end of October

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James Saunders

By James Saunders


Published: 10/09/2024

- 18:24

The King and Queen will are in for a packed schedule on their eight-day round-the-world trip

The King and Queen have released a fresh slate of details for their upcoming landmark tour to Australia and Samoa - a trip slated to include a number of firsts for both of Their Majesties.

The whirlwind eight-day round-the-world trip to the two South Pacific nations will see Charles and Camilla undertake a spate of public engagements, which GB News understands will celebrate both the pair of countries and the personal work carried out by the royal duo.


The Australia trip will mark the King's first visit to one of the 14 non-UK Commonwealth Realms as King, while the landmark Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa will be Charles's first as the head of the 56-member bloc.

Charles - in his role as head of state in Australia - will first visit the Australian parliament in the capital Canberra, where he and Queen Camilla will be welcomed by the country's PM Anthony Albanese.

Charles and Camilla

Charles and Camilla will undertake a spate of public engagements down under

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King Charles on Australia-flagged jet

The King and Queen have released a fresh slate of details for their upcoming landmark tour to Australia and Samoa

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\u200bKing Charles and Australian PM Anthony Albanese

King Charles and Australian PM Anthony Albanese will meet once again in Canberra

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Also in Canberra, the King and Queen will speak at a reception of political and community leaders, as well as "prominent Australians" from culture, sports, arts and health, Buckingham Palace said.

The pair will make their way to the capital's vast war memorials - laying a wreath at the Australian War Memorial and visiting the country's separate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial.

In Sydney, Charles and Camilla will carry out a Fleet Review of the Royal Australian Navy - but that's not the only engagement the duo will be in for in Australia's largest city.

Both the King and Queen will be making visits to people and places close to their heart - Charles, known for his environmentalism, will meet firefighters who work to tackle Australia's devastating bush fires, while he and Camilla will tour Sydney's National Botanic Gardens for talks with staff and volunteers on the country's wildlife, biodiversity and climate change.

LATEST ON THE KING AND QUEEN'S TOURS:

Charles and Camilla

The pair will carry out a spate of official duties in the two countries

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Buckingham Palace's itinerary also confirms that the King will mark his continuing cancer comeback by meeting two Australians of the Year - Professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer, who will discuss their work on melanoma with Charles.

And Camilla will follow up on a number of school visits in Britain by visiting a Sydney library to meet children participating in a Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition workshop.

That follows her sit-down talks on domestic violence in Canberra, where Camilla will meet families affected and experts in the field.

Finally in Australia, the King and Queen will attend a community BBQ in Western Sydney, meeting local residents and sampling a range of produce from across New South Wales.

The King will also meet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives and groups to learn about their work in "supporting local community and strengthening culture", Buckingham Palace says.

The King with flowers

Charles will tour botanic gardens in both Australia and Samoa

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Troops with Commonwealth flags on Charles's coronation day

Charles has talked up the Commonwealth's "near-boundless potential as a force for good" in the past

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The Palace is also keen to talk up Britain and Samoa's "warm bilateral relationship" - and Charles and Camilla will be welcomed to the country with a formal 'Ava Fa'atupu ceremony, kicking off a number of cultural and community engagements in the island nation.

Like in Australia, the pair's Samoan engagements mirror their own personal passions - with Charles visiting mangrove forests and a national park, alongside opening the King's Garden in Samoa's Botanical Garden.

Camilla, meanwhile, will be toured around a traditional Samoan school and meet representatives from domestic and sexual abuse charity the Samoa Victim Support Group.

But it's CHOGM which will form the crux of the Samoa leg of the tour - with this meeting operating under the headline "One Resilient Common Future: Transforming Our Common Wealth".

In Charles's very first Commonwealth Day message as King, in March 2023, he said of the Commonwealth: "Its near-boundless potential as a force for good in the world demands our highest ambition; its sheer scale challenges us to unite and be bold."

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