Charles becomes Samoan ‘high chief’ as he drinks narcotic kava
King Charles has taken part in a traditional ritual in Samoa, drinking kava, the potent brew which sent former deputy PM Michael McCormack to hospital in 2022.
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King Charles has taken part in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony before a line of bare-chested, heavily tattooed Samoans and been declared a “high chief” of the Pacific island nation.
Wearing a white safari-style suit, the 75-year-old king sat at the head of a carved timber longhouse where he was presented with a polished half-coconut filled with a mildly narcotic kava brew.
The slightly intoxicating root drink is a key part of Pacific culture and is known locally as “ava”.
Former deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, was hospitalised after mistakenly drinking too much of a the potent beverage at a similar ceremony in Micronesia in 2022.
“May God bless this ava,” King Charles said before lifting it to his lips and drinking, which was met with a round of applause.
Queen Camilla looked on, fanning herself to ease the tropical humidity.
The royal couple later visited the village of Moata’a, where Charles was made “Tui Taumeasina” or high chief.
According to local legend, the area around Moata’a is where the coconut originated.
“Everyone has taken to our heart and is looking forward to welcoming the king,” local chief Lenatai Victor Tamapua told reporters before the visit.
“We feel honoured that he has chosen to be welcomed here in our village. So as a gift, we would like to bestow him a title.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a three-day visit to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is being held in the island nation.
The royal couple have just wrapped up a wildly successful five day trip to Australia where they were met by adoring fans at every turn.
It is the King’s first major trip overseas since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
CHARLES LANDS IN SAMOA
Earlier, King Charles landed in Samoa to join his first Commonwealth summit as monarch, hoping to breathe new life into a bloc seen by critics as “a leftover of empire”.
Charles arrived in the coastal capital of Apia — halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii — for the biennial meeting of the 56-nation grouping, mostly former British colonies, will attract around 3000 delegates.
The conference is the first hosted by a Pacific Island nation and will be an “extraordinary” opportunity to showcase the region, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told AFP.
Scotland hopes the summit will “cement” the Commonwealth family “as we look to what, for many, is a very troubled and complex future”.
“We have two choices globally. We can either swim together or we can drown separately,” she said.
“The Commonwealth has never been for drowning. It’s always been for fighting.”
It comes after the couple departed Australia on Wednesday following a worldwide tour.
The royal couple ascended the stairs to their RAAF plane together, turning around at the top for a final wave together.
The plane taking the royal couple to Samoa lifted off at exactly midday.
A motorcade aid was seen removing the special royal number plate and flag from the black Audi the couple were transported in during their Sydney stay, making it look like just any other official car.
This brings an end to the royal tour – just two cities over five nights, but with an incredible array of events on the agenda.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in the pouring rain on Friday but they leave Sydney on a spectacularly sunny day.
The royals are heading to Samoa, where King Charles will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The royal couple arrived at Sydney Airport around 11.22am, shortly behind schedule, with the Queen wearing a Fiona Clare print dress — one of her favourite designers.
NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke were on hand to bid the royals farewell.
As the royals prepared to taxi off at Sydney Airport, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was represented by Mr Burke at the airport, issued a statement bidding them farewell.
“It was an honour to welcome The King and Queen to Australia for this historic visit, the first by a Sovereign since Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2011,” he said.
“Their Majesties met a range of extraordinary Australians who demonstrated the best of our great country.
“I look forward to meeting The King again in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.”
The royals were not in the main part of the airport, but Gate 11, a side area reserved for smaller aviation companies and special occasions such as this.
They are being flown to Samoa on a Royal Australian Air Force jet, which took off from runway 25.
To mark the royal visit, the Australian Government will make a $10,000 national contribution to Greening Australia – a cause close to the King’s heart.
Greening Australia is a national not-for-profit group committed to restoring Australia’s diverse landscapes and protecting biodiversity in ways that benefit communities, economies, and nature.
ALL EYES ON KING’S BODYGUARD
King Charles’ top protection officer has earned the sobriquet of real life Kingsman agent after becoming an internet sensation for carrying a gun and an umbrella.
The bearded guard glued to the King’s side during public engagements is his “much loved” personal protection officer from the Metropolitan Police’s Royal and Diplomatic Protection team.
A Punjabi Indian, the officer, who cannot be named for security purposes, was entrusted to protect the King when he ascended the throne and leads the growing phalanx of security guards who surround him at public facing duties at home and abroad.
He was first spotted with a gun sticking out of his blazer when Charles greeted mourners for the first time as a King when the Queen died.
On his tour of Australia he told royal fans outside the Opera House, “Phones down please, enjoy your time with the King, he’s a nice man and likes to interact but he doesn’t like phones, you’ll get more out of him if you talk to him.”
He recently attracted attention on social media when he accompanied the monarch on social engagements carting an umbrella, prompting TikTok followers to dub him the character from the Kingsman film franchise, Colin Firth’s Harry Hart.
He has been frequently spotted walking in and out of Buckingham Palace with his umbrella, which fans have dubbed ‘gunbrella’ – similar to the weapon the Firth deploys in the film.
“That thing he’s holding is a GUNbrella, not an umbrella,” one person commented on X.
“What is he a Kingsman secret agent?” another asked.
One said: “I love him he needs to be the next James Bond … such an amazing guy.”
Always with a silk handkerchief in his top jacket pocket, he was seen accompanying Charles greeting wellwishers along The Mall ahead of the coronation.
A source close to the royal household said: “He’s a legend, he’s the king’s lead protection officer.
“He’s much loved by the rota.”
SYDNEY ON HIGH AFTER ROYAL VISIT
NSW Premier Chris Minns told Seven’s Sunrise that Sydney was on a high after putting on a “spectacular day” for the King and Queen.
“Sydney and Australia really showed a warm welcome for His Majesty and Her Majesty and we were more than happy to come out and welcome them to a beautiful city, and Sydney put on a spectacular day yesterday,” he said.
Mr Minns said he was taken aback by how easygoing the King and Queen were.
“They joke around, very low key. They are up for a laugh. I was pretty … I was amazed at how down to earth they actually both are.
“Yeah, they really make you feel at ease, and I think that they in particular have a love for Australia.
“I know that Charles has been here before many times, never before as sovereign, but many times prior as a friend of Australia and that really comes through. I hope they had a great time and I know that Sydney, in particular for the last three day, has been on a bit of a high.”
MAN CHARGED OVER VANDALISM OF STATUE
A man has been charged after allegedly damaging the iconic statue of Queen Victoria in Sydney’s CBD.
Red paint was splashed over the historic monument just hours before King Charles and Queen Camilla’s packed timetable of events in the city on Tuesday.
A search warrant was executed at a Wonga Street home in Sydney’s Strathfield about 10pm on Tuesday where police seized paint bottles.
A 26-year-old man was arrested and taken to Burwood Police Station, where he was charged with malicious damage and having his face blackened or disguised with intent to commit an indictable offence.
The vandalism of the Queen Victoria statue has appalled Brits in a nation that still reveres the long serving monarch, who drew frequent parallels to the beloved late Queen Elizabeth.
Media outlets across the UK immediately splashed the news of the statue’s desecration across their websites and it is expected to feature in Wednesday’s newspapers.
“A prominent statue of Queen Victoria in Sydney was vandalised overnight in an attack thought to be linked to the royal visit,” The Times of London lamented.
“Red paint was splashed over the statue, outside the Queen Victoria Building in the city centre.
“The bronze statue was crafted in 1908 and originally erected in the Irish capital, Dublin. It was shipped to Sydney in the 1980s.”
The UK Daily Telegraph and British Daily Mail also led their coverage with the vandalism of the statue of the queen who reigned for almost 64 years until her death in 1901.
However, the British press also revelled in the reception the royals received in Australia, surmising their popularity had grown despite fears it would decline following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
“(It was an) extraordinarily successful royal tour which, aside from yesterday’s outburst in Canberra (by Senator Lidia Thorpe), has gone better than even Buckingham Palace could have imagined, with acres of positive coverage in the Australian press,” the British Daily Mail reported glowingly.
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