Republican leader promises to be on 'best behaviour' as King Charles and Camilla land in Sydney for start of historic six-day royal tour

A republican politician promised to be on his ‘best behaviour’ before greeting King Charles and Queen Camilla tonight as the royal tour of Australia began.

Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales, was among those welcoming the couple after they landed at Sydney Airport at 8.30pm local time (10.30am UK time).

Before greeting the King at the airport, the 45-year-old Labor politician said: ‘I’m a republican. You’ve asked me and I’m happy to tell you I’m a republican.

‘But I’m going to treat him as an honoured guest in New South Wales, which he genuinely is. I hope he has a great time here and I’ll be on my best behaviour.’

Mr Minns was accompanied by his mother Cara after his wife Anna became ill at the last minute. Sources told the Australian Daily Telegraph that Anna did not have Covid but she ‘wanted to take the precaution of not passing anything on to the King’. 

Mr Minns signed off £50,000 plans to light up the sails of the Sydney Opera House tonight with a loop of images from previous royal visits to welcome the royals.

The illumination had been due to begin at 8pm local time (10am UK time), 30 minutes before the couple were due to land at Sydney Airport – but ran into trouble.

It was delayed by a Cunard cruise ship called the Queen Elizabeth which blocked the projector after failing to sail out on time because of bad weather, reported ITV .

The display was organised 18 months after Mr Minns dumped similar plans set by the former coalition state government for the Coronation in May 2023 due to cost.

Mr Minns is also among the six Australian state premiers who are expected to miss a reception for Charles and Camilla in Canberra on Monday.

Victoria’s Jacinta Allan, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas and Mr Minns have cabinet meetings to attend, Queensland premier Steven Miles is busy working on his election campaign, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff is on a US trade mission and Western Australia ‘s premier Roger Cook has other commitments.

This time, the government has allowed the projection on the Opera House, saying it ‘consists of a four-minute photo montage from Their Majesties’ previous visits to the state and the nation’.

A statement on Wednesday added that the ‘images reflect the diverse ways in which Their Majesties have engaged with and celebrated NSW and Australia over the years’.

Royal fans will also get the chance to see Charles and Camilla at the Sydney Opera House forecourt next Tuesday afternoon at 4.20pm local time – followed by a Fleet Review and flypast by the Australian Defence Force on Sydney Harbour until 5.20pm.

Tonight, at 8.30pm local time (10.30am UK time), the King and Queen arrived in the middle of a downpour at Sydney Airport for their hugely-anticipated royal visit.

The heavens opened around half an hour before Their Majesties were due to touch down for the start of their historic six-day royal tour to the country.

But just as they were about to step off their plane the rain eased off, enabling them to be greeted by a host of dignitaries including Prime Minster Anthony Albanese.

However Camilla, 77, still put her umbrella up and walked gingerly down the stairs of the plane and onto the Tarmac.

She was wearing a royal blue silk crepe dress by Fiona Clare, adorned with the Australian wattle brooch – a gift from the Australian people to Queen Elizabeth II.

The couple landed on an Australian government plane, which picked them up from Singapore after they flew there commercially.

It comes after a row last year over whether to illuminate the Opera House for the Coronation.

Mr Minns said at the time in May 2023 that the cost of £40,000 to £50,000 per night to light up the landmark was too much for Australian taxpayers to bear.

But Mr Minns said on Tuesday that it was important the King was warmly welcomed during his visit to Sydney.

He added that the ‘primary objective’ in lighting up the Opera House would be to focus on events taking place in the state capital.

Mr Minns told the Australian Daily Telegraph: ‘I’ve made the point previously in relation to the Opera House, when it comes to events that are taking place in Sydney that will be our primary objective.

‘The King is coming to Sydney and we obviously want to make sure he is warmly welcomed and that is what we’re going to do.’

And in a statement issued by the government on Wednesday, Mr Minns said: ‘We are lighting up the Sydney Opera House to warmly welcome the King and Queen to our beautiful harbour city.

‘The photo projection on the Opera House sails celebrates a historic moment – the King’s first visit to NSW as Sovereign – and is a fitting tribute.

‘I also invite everyone to the Opera House forecourt next Tuesday afternoon to join the King and Queen. NSW is looking forward to hosting this milestone visit and I encourage everyone to make the most of it.’

Earlier in the week, the premier said he had not changed his view that Australia should become a republic but that would not stop the red carpet being rolled out for the King during his first visit as monarch.

The Opera House sails were illuminated for 23 days in 2012 but that ballooned to more than 70 days in 2022, costing taxpayers up to £3.5million annually.

Requests to the government were still increasing and included ‘trivial matters’, the premier said previously.

At the time of the Coronation, Mr Minns explained his decision not to illuminate the Opera House by saying: ‘Of course I respect the new king but I’m mindful of where and when we spend taxpayers’ money.

‘I’d like to keep it for Australia and Australians, and for moments of sacrifice and heroism for the country – or when there’s an important international event in Sydney.’

Pro-monarchist groups blasted the move as ‘insulting’ at the time.

Since coming to office, the NSW Labor group has rejected a number of requests to light up the Opera House from various organisations and for religious events.

Just a few hours before the plane landed, the royal couple posted a video montage of previous royal tours of Australia alongside words of praise for the Commonwealth country.

The couple said: ‘Ahead of our first visit to Australia as King and Queen, we are really looking forward to returning to this beautiful country to celebrate the extraordinarily rich cultures and communities that make it so special. See you there! Charles R & Camilla R.’

The message was accompanied with archive footage of previous royal tours, including the late Queen’s first visit in 1954.

It is the King’s first visit as the country’s new sovereign and, fascinatingly, the first time in history a King of Australia has ever been to the country where he is head of state.

The only monarch to have visited so far was Queen Elizabeth II , the last time being just over a decade ago in 2011 to mark her Golden Jubilee.

Her father, King George VI , was unable to travel there due to his ill health, while King George V never attempted the lengthy journey. 

Today, the King and Queen’s official arrival in Australia was marked by a formal welcome by several key federal and state representatives, including the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn, and her spouse, His Excellency Simeon Beckett.

She is the monarch’s most senior representative in-country and will be hosting the couple at her Admiralty House – her Victorian Italianate sandstone official residence, in the suburb of Kirribilli, which boasts commanding views of the Sydney Opera House – throughout their six-day visit.

The Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, was also amongst the welcoming party.

Before they depart Sydney Airport, the Queen was presented with a posy by a young boy named Ky, 12, from near Adelaide in South Australia, whose wish to meet Their Majesties was movingly being granted by the Make a Wish Foundation. He was accompanied by his sister Charlotte.

Later at Admiralty House, the King and Queen will enjoy a brief cup of tea with the Prime Minister and his partner, Jodie Haydon, before retiring to recover from their inevitable jet lag.

Bravely the King, 75, has decided to pause his ongoing cancer treatment – as revealed exclusively by the Daily Mail last week – in order to undertake the visit to Australia, which will be immediately followed by a state visit to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In all the 30,000-mile round-trip will take him away from home for 11 days.

However doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress since his shock cancer diagnosis earlier this year for him to do this.

Buckingham Palace have not revealed what type of cancer he is suffering from or the treatment he is receiving.

All precautions are being taken to protect his health and recovery process, nevertheless.

As head of state he will be accompanied, it can be revealed, not by one but two UK doctors on the trip: one who specialises in general medicine and the other in ‘acute medicine’.

His health will be closely monitored by his own medics, who no doubt will have made arrangements with local hospitals in the unlikely event that further treatment should be needed.

As always his medical team will travel with a supply of his blood to ensure a match if ever a transfusion was needed, which is standard practice for the head of state.

Charles’ programme of engagements has also been ‘tweaked’ in order to pace events slightly better.

He and wife Camilla, 77, will enjoy a rest day on Saturday in order to recuperate from the flight, and aside from hosting the official ‘King’s dinner’ at CHOGM for Commonwealth Heads of State in Samoa next week, there are no evening engagements.

However the King will still be frequently attending around eight engagements a day through the trip and claims that staff have mandatorily factored in rest period every 45 minutes have been described as ‘so wide of the mark’.

A source told the Mail: ‘Yes, a dinner was ruled out in early planning to help lighten the programme and some downtime built in across the ten days.

‘But, no, His Majesty most definitely doesn’t need to rest every 45 minutes as people will see when the programme begins.’

The couple’s programme will take in all the normal formality and fun of a royal tour – from meetings with senior politicians to a traditional barbie.

The Queen will also be championing interests close to her heart including work against domestic violence and the promotion of literacy.

During the visit Charles will meet colleagues Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer, named as Australians of the year 2024 in recognition of their pivotal work on melanoma, one of Australia’s most common cancers.

Other highlights will see the royal couple spending time in the capital Canberra meeting leading figures and paying their respects to the country’s fallen.

Inevitably the visit has also raised debate about republicanism and the possibility of Australia’s independence from the Crown.

As revealed by the Daily Mail last Saturday, Charles has ‘politely declined’ a meeting with the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) but express his ‘deep love and affection’ for the country and emphasised that its future is a matter for its people to decide.

ARM has itself praised the ‘important contribution’ of the Royal Family and emphasised it is not anti-monarchist, saying it would like the country to retain close ties with the UK and Commonwealth.

However it says it believes it is now time to have an Australian-born head of state.

The last referendum on the issue was held in 1999 and saw almost 55 per cent vote no to becoming a republic.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Mr Albanese, himself a committed republican, kicked the issue into the long grass for the time being.

His government has put long-held plans for a new vote hold, saying it is ‘not a priority’ but the issue is still a matter of much debate.

Interestingly, Australian republicans do not plan to protest this week, saying they prefer to use the royal visit to amplify discussions around their cause on the and will use it to raise funds by selling ‘Farewell to Oz’ merchandise and tea towels.

The only expected protests will, bizarrely, be by British activists from anti-monarchist group Republic.

They claim not to be making a statement about what Australians should do but say they want to challenge the King’s role in representing the UK abroad.

This has angered many Australians, however, who say the British campaigners are interfering in their constitutional process.

Philip Benwell, national chair of the Australian Monarchist League (AML) said: ‘We only hope that the proposed protests by republicans, particularly by the head of English Republic, will not detract from the visit and not put people off from attending. He may have links to Australia but we don’t want him here.’

He praised the King’s ‘bravery’ in attempting the ‘arduous’ journey in spite of his cancer diagnosis.

‘It’s very brave of him to do so,’ Mr Benwell said, adding that there was an enormous amount of ‘goodwill’ for the royal visit.

‘There is a huge amount of affection for the Royal Family. People have a high regard for the King, for the work he has done, for his commitment to duty as the [late] Queen was committed to duty, as her father was before her, and before him George V,’ he said.

Mr Benwell said the AML had been ‘mobilising’ its supporters to hand our Australian flags to welcome their king with.

As for the issue of a republic, he explained: ‘It’s not so much about the King as an individual or a royal but about our system of government and our constitution, which is based on the Crown which best protects our freedoms and our democracy.

‘It keeps politicians from absolute power. Having the King… as our sovereign head of state and protector of the Australian constitution means that other politicians and big business cannot influence the system.

‘The system is impartial and that is why we have had an unparalleled stability in this country for over 100 years since our constitution first came into being in 1901.

‘Our founding fathers put the constitution in the hands of the people so that only the people could amend it.’

The AML’s spokesman for the tour, Alexander Voltz, said the organisation was preparing more than 15,000 Australians flags to hand out to fans awaiting the royals.

New South Wales Police declined to be drawn on whether the English-based protests that have been planned had added to their security pressure but said: ‘A police operation will be undertaken during the duration of the visit of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla later this month.

‘The priority for the NSW Police Force is to ensure the safety of the visiting dignitaries and the community.’

His Majesty’s relationship with Australia began in 1966, when, as Prince of Wales, he spent two terms at Geelong Grammar School. In total, he has visited Australia sixteen times, both whilst serving in The Royal Navy and on official visits.

This will be Her Majesty The Queen’s fourth visit to Australia, her first being in 2012, when she accompanied His Majesty to the country as part of The late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour.

Dr George Gross, royal historian and visiting research fellow at King’s College London, previously said: ‘This is a tour of significant firsts. Although King Charles III has travelled to Australia many times, this will be his first visit there as sovereign and the first tour to the country by a reigning monarch since 2011.

‘It will also be the King’s first official overseas tour since his cancer diagnosis, his first to a Commonwealth realm and, while visiting Samoa, he will lead the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of his reign.

‘It is notable too that he is visiting Australia in the year after his coronation, as this echoes the 1954 tour by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II following her coronation in 1953.’