Ever since Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Sydney Opera House in 1973, its distinctive shape and white sails have formed the backdrop for many a royal tour, and it will again on Tuesday afternoon when King Charles and Queen Camilla tour the forecourt ahead of a review of Australian navy vessels.

Come explore all the occasions when Britain’s House of Windsor met Sydney’s House of Opera.

1973: The Queen launches an icon

There were 15,000 guests, but no barricades, when Queen Elizabeth officially launched the Sydney Opera House on the afternoon of Saturday October 20, 1973. Wearing a simple blue dress with a matching soft hat, white gloves, shoes and pearls, the Queen made a speech on a dais constructed on the forecourt, unveiled a plaque, signed a distinguished visitors’ book, and walked about, greeting guests alongside her husband Prince Philip.

Aboriginal actor Ben Blakeney appeared at the apex of the building’s sails, representing Bennelong, the indigenous leader after whom Bennelong Point (where the Opera House was built) is named, while “migrant groups in national costumes” were among the crowd, according to a report in The Australian Women’s Weekly.

“The Sydney Opera House has captured the imagination of the world, though I understand that its construction has not been totally without problems. But every imaginative venture has had to be tempered by the fire of controversy,” the Queen said in her speech.

The Royal Couple returned that evening for a gala concert performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Queen in full Queen mode, wearing a white dress with gold and silver embroidery, a sash and a pearl and diamond tiara.

A reception and fireworks followed.

The King and Queen returned to the already-famous building just two days later to catch a performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

1974: A whistlestop tour

Everyone wanted to see Australia’s new landmark building up close – and members of the royal family were no exception. When the Queen, Prince Philip, Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips toured in February 1974, time was set aside for the young royals to get their own guided tour. The official itinerary shows 40 minutes was allocated for the visit.

1977: A night at the opera

The Queen and Prince Philip’s tour in 1977 was an epic affair, involving visits to all states and territories over three weeks, with some legs completed on the yacht Britannia. But the Sydney leg was comparatively short: there was just one and a half days, squeezing in several launches, half a rugby league match, and a performance of the opera Albert Herring at the Sydney Opera House. The royal party had a supper party on board the Britannia after the performance.

1980: Meeting Hoges

It’s possibly the most Australian image of all time: Hoges in his sleeveless flanny and stubbies, in a receiving line meeting the Queen and Prince Philip.

He’d just been part of the line-up for the Royal Charity Concert at the Opera House, alongside Olivia Newton-John (whom was standing next to him in the receiving line), Helen Reddy, Peter Allen and other stars.

Hoges had served up a deliciously deadpan Aussie monologue which culminated with him awarding the night’s “lucky door prize” – dinner at his place – to the royal couple.

Years later, Hoges revealed in an interview that upon meeting the Queen in the line-up, she leant in and said: “I’m sorry dear, I don’t think we’ll be able to make dinner.”

1983: An overwhelming moment

Prince Charles and Princess Diana were one week into an epic six-week journey Down Under in March 1983 when they appeared at the Opera House.

A report from the British press recounted the “electric” mood.

“Excitement at the Opera House had built up since before dawn as whole families, granny and great-granny included, camped out in scorching sunshine to await her arrival. Roars of approval greeted the arrival of the Princess whose blush of pleasure was as pink as her floral patterned dress,” royal biographer Grania Forbes wrote.

But an image snapped by Fleet Street photographer Ken Lennox showed something else entirely: Princess Diana in tears.

Decades later, Lennos told The Independent the palace press officer had explained away the moment as a symptom of jet lag, but looking back it was “the first sign of something was wrong”.

Charles had either not noticed Diana’s tears, or had chose to look the other way, Lennox told The Independent.

1988: Diana steps out

Five years later, it was a brighter and bolder Diana who wowed the crowds alongside Charles on their Bicentennial tour Down Under in January 1988. The Royal Couple were the guests of honour at an Australian wool show at the Opera House featuring garments by Donna Karan, Versace and other international designers.

While Diana’s satin Bruce Oldfield gown was not universally loved at the time, the bold colour and heavy-duty accessories were a sign of the more glamorous and confident public figure she had become.

2000: The millennium visit

With the royal family reeling from divorce, drama and the shocking death of Princess Diana in 1997, tours Down Under were infrequent during the 1990s, and the few that happened did not feature the Sydney Opera House. (Sydney’s Darling Harbour would be the backdrop during Prince Charles’s 1994 visit, when a political protester charged at him as he rose to give a speech, firing blanks from a gun.)

The Queen and Prince Philip’s two-week Australian tour in March 2000 came just a few months after Australia voted against becoming a republic in the 1999 referendum, but the vibe was muted. Australians were “mild with excitement,” one contemporary report suggested.

The Royal Couple kicked off their tour with a meet-and-greet at the Opera House. In a short speech the Queen said the building was “recognised and acknowledged everywhere as a symbol of Australia’s determination to make its mark in the world as such a lively, distinctive and innovative nation.”

2005: Charles, not in charge

The smallish crowds who turned out to meet Prince Charles outside the Opera House during his tour in March 2005 show the monarchy at one of its low ebbs. Support for a republic was still high, despite 1999’s failed referendum, and the public and the media were much more energised by an altogether different royal: a former Tasmanian real estate agent named Mary Donaldson who had become a princess by marrying the Crown Prince of Denmark.

Some contemporary account revealed Prince Charles was pulling crowds as low as 200 on the 2005 tour, while The Times reported that protesters cried out “Shame” and held up pictures of Princess Diana, during the future King’s public engagements.

2006: A second Opera House launch

The Queen and Prince Philip returned to the Opera House in 2006 to open the building’s new colonnade. In her speech on the building’s forecourt, the Queen reflected on the opening back in 1973, saying: “It was even then a symbol of the nation itself, a building to which visitors happily return again and again”.

2010: The Prince and the Postcard

Prince William’s first visit to Australia as an adult was a short and low-key affair, with fleeting visits to Melbourne and Sydney. But there was time for the “postcard shot” with Sydney’s most famous building in the background.

2012: G’day Camilla

Charles was 16 at the time of his first visit to Australia, but it wasn’t until Camilla was 65 that Australia got its first look at the future Queen.

The Royal Couple toured a number of cities in November as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. On their visit to the Sydney Opera House they were treated to a performance by the now-deceased Aboriginal performer Yunupingu.

2014: Heirs and graces

Kate Middleton never visited the Sydney Opera House in her pre-royal life, but she was unmissable when she got here on April 16 alongside Prince William, pulling focus in an eye-catching yellow dress by UK-based designer Roksanda Ilinic.

It was part of the royal couple’s first (and so far only) tour of Australia and New Zealand, which they undertook with the then nine-month-old Prince George.

Sydney was the first stop on the Australian leg of their trip, and the Opera House the first engagement. Crowds swarmed the boardwalks, while 400 people managed to get inside for a reception, where William amused guests by suggesting his young son’s first words could end up being “bilby”. The royal couple also met young cricket champions as well as Glenn McGrath and Ellyse Perry.

Radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands revealed to The Daily Telegraph that he had scored an invitation to the reception, and he had received some advice on his behaviour from June Dally-Watkins herself.

“Just be yourself darling, and don’t be naughty,” the deportment queen reportedly told Sandilands.

2015: ‘His Royal Hotness’

Dressed in army fatigues and a black beret, Captain Harry Wales had come straight from a defence training operation on Sydney Harbour when he visited the Opera House forecourt on May 8, 2016.

He was there after a month-long stint with the Australian Army; a final tour of duty for a 10-year UK military career that had seen him deployed to Afghanistan twice.

But the event had a remarkably informal, even cheeky vibe; signs spotted in the crowd bore the words “Gingers rule” and “His Royal Hotness”.

Sydney university student Victoria McRae, 21, made world headlines when she stole a kiss from Prince Harry when he stopped to say hello. Dressed in a gold tiara and sequined­ Australian flag dress, she told reporters afterwards she ­had already tried proposing twice, and she had hoped that that day would be her “third time lucky”. Harry reportedly said he would “have to think about” her proposal, but media interest in the 30-year-old prince’s love life was truly getting red hot.

2018: Harry and Meghan mania

Arguably, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were never more electrifying than they were on October 16, 2018, when they stopped by the Opera House for a public appearance on the first full day of their Australian public tour.

Overnight, Kensington Palace had confirmed that the couple were expecting their first child, setting off a firestorm of media and public interest, with everyone wanting to see Meghan Markle’s baby bump.

The bump was “just-there,” The Daily Telegraph reported, but the Duchess’s stunning Karen Gee dress caused its own sensation, with the designer’s website crashing minutes after the couple appeared.

The Royal Couple chatted, shook hands and even cuddled excited members of the public, while Prince Harry showed evident delight when he reconnected with 98-year-old war widow Daphne Dunne, whom he had met during his 2015 tour.

“I got a hug and a kiss from both of them, but this time it was different, he’s married, I’ve lost my chance!” Daphne joked afterwards.

The couple were back at the Opera House on October 20 for the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games.

2022: Honouring the Queen

Advances in projection technology have enabled the Opera House to become our most iconic billboard in recent years, with light shows beaming remarkable artworks onto those white sails. At other times, the Opera House has been lit to express community sentiment, whether that be in celebration or mourning. These occasions have proved controversial at times, but there was no murmuring or muttering when the Opera House displayed a large but simple black and white image of Queen Elizabeth on the sails in the days after her death in September 2022.

For the iconic woman who had opened this iconic building, this was hailed as a fitting, dignified tribute, and an authentic expression of a nation in mourning.

2024: Recognising a new monarch

The Opera House has been lit up again to honour the current tour of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, those soaring white walls bearing images of previous royal visits to Sydney.

The Australian Monarchist League welcomed the move, saying an earlier decision not to celebrate the King and Queen’s coronation with projections in May 2023 was “mean spirited”.