King Charles’ most iconic moments in Australia on a royal tour
As King Charles gets set to embark on his 17th trip to Australia, we take a look back at some of his antipodean hits and a few misses. See the photos and video.
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In 1966, King Charles first visited Australia as an awkward, shy 17-year-old prince when he spent a term at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop campus (before later holidaying in Queensland). The then-prince would describe the “rigorous” experience – where he regularly copped a good dose of Aussie ribbing from his classmates – as the “best part” of his secondary schooling, and “formative” in his character.
In the nearly six decades since, King Charles has travelled to our shores a further 15 times. Now, as he gets set to embark on a 17th trip alongside Queen Camilla – the first time a reigning monarch has visited Australia since the late Queen in 2011 – we take a look back at some of Charles’ most iconic Australian moments and a few he might like to forget.
COTTESLOE BEACH KISS, 1979
During a 1979 tour to Australia (where he was representing his mother), Charles emerged from a dawn swim at Perth’s Cottesloe Beach only to be met by 26-year-old bikini-clad model, Jane Priest, who grabbed him by the shoulders and planted a kiss on the bashful Charles’ cheek.
But it wasn’t a spur of the moment encounter; royal photographer Kent Gavin asked Priest to “run up and kiss” the prince to “make him more accessible”. And the ploy worked.
The photo — which was seen as showing the transformation of a once awkward young man into an attractive prince — made the world’s front pages. And, to this day, it remains one of the rare occasions a British royal has been photographed wearing such short, er, shorts.
WITH PRINCESS DIANA AT ULURU, 1983
The famed 1983 tour saw Princess Diana routinely mobbed by screaming, adoring crowds and Charles largely relegated to the background, which reportedly left him unimpressed. The princess had already bucked royal tradition by bringing a baby Prince William on the trip and just two years into their marriage, whispers about their troubled union had already started.
But a trip to Uluru was supposed to show a united royal couple when a safari-suited clad Charles encouraged his wife to climb part of the way up the rock, but she soon came down much to his frustration, reportedly concerned about how her knees and petticoat would look to a throng of photographers in photos as she descended. A tick over 40 years later, the strained couple’s photo in front of Uluru is as iconic as a solitary Princess Diana in front of the Taj Mahal in 1992 when their marriage was well and truly done.
BONDI SURFING LESSON, 1977
Charles loved a swim while he was in Australia and during a 1977 tour, he took the opportunity to take a dip at Bondi. Arriving at the iconic beach dressed in a blue tracksuit, the prince refused offers from locals to wear a wetsuit – although he clearly regretted his decision shortly after. Emerging from the water he told locals, “By gee, it’s bloody cold … it reminds me of home.”
Peter Koutouzis, a 15-year-old Bondi local, gave Charles an unexpected surfing lesson, telling reporters later that “I just saw the Prince and decided to meet him” and that the royal could “stand beautifully” on the surfboard but was “slow”.
WHEN CHARLES MET MOLLY, 1977
Music guru Ian “Molly” Meldrum was used to handling pop stars but a future king was a whole different ball game for the beloved Countdown host. In 1977, when Prince Charles appeared as a guest on the popular Sunday night music show, a more nervous and flustered Meldrum than usual looked like he wanted to fall through the floor, particularly after he barked, “I saw your mum in London,” and a haughty Charles responded, “Are you referring to Her Majesty the Queen?”
Charles later described the interview as one he would never forget, and joked that he later wished he could have cancelled it.
CHARLES’ TAKES A DIP IN BONDI, 1981
A few months before he married the then Lady Diana to a TV audience of millions, Charles took a trip to Australia where he visited Canberra, taking in the Australian War Memorial, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Geelong, home to Geelong Grammar where he spent a term at the school’s Timbertop campus. While in Sydney, the prince couldn’t resist a morning swim at Bondi where he was accompanied by his bodyguard. The photo of a laughing Charles emerging from the surf became one of the most famous photographs taken of the prince.
CHARLES DANCES WITH DIANA, 1985
Princess Diana and Charles had caused a splash on their famous 1983 Australian tour when they twirled around the dancefloor at Sydney’s Wentworth Hotel to the 1966 Chris Montez hit The More I See You (famously portrayed by actors Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin during season four of The Crown). Two years later, they repeated the performance with an even more confident Diana, striking in blue, taking to the dancefloor with her smiling husband during a gala dinner in Melbourne.
AUSTRALIA DAY SHOOTING ATTEMPT, 1994
During a 1994 Australia Day speech to students at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, Charles was shot at by 23-year-old student David Kang. Kang seemed to trip before being tackled by security, but he managed to come within just a few metres of the then-heir to the throne.
The incident didn’t seem to ruffle the royal who proceeded to fix his cufflinks while his assailant was tackled by security.
Ian Kiernan, one of the men who tackled the gunman, later told media that Charles was as “cool as a cucumber” when faced with the possibility of a shooting and continued with his speech, prompting the Daily Mail to dub him, “His Royal Coolness”.
It later emerged that Kang had used blank shots in what was a protest over the treatment of Cambodian asylum seekers in Australia. Then PM, Paul Keating, called the incident “embarrassing”.
KOALAS CHARM CHARLES, CAMILLA, 2012
During Charles’ and Camilla’s Diamond Jubilee visit to Adelaide’s Government House in 2012, the couple were charmed by a pair of koalas – Kao and Matilda.
In one of the more memorable moments of the tour, Camilla said to Charles as she gestured towards Kao: “You take the big one, darling.”
Camilla was so smitten that she joked about taking Matilda home.
But Kao was not impressed by his famous handler, wriggling around as Charles attempted to get a stronger grip on the marsupial.
Charles, who’d clearly been told koalas have notoriously weak bladders, joked: “Something ominous will run down.”
Kao also didn’t bow to royal authority: “I can’t see this one at all, he’s looking down all the time,” Charles joked.
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