Hephner the Alpaca sneezes and sprays the King

It could have been a royal moment – up there with then-prime minister Paul Keating laying his republican hand on the small of Queen Elizabeth II’s back.

But an incident that could have sparked international uproar was avoided when Hephner the Alpaca came face to face with Charles, King of Australia.

King Charles meets Hephner the Alpaca.Credit: Shane Wright

A crowd of more than 1000 Canberrans – a notoriously republican bunch who at the weekend decided to extend the term of the Labor-Greens government to at least 27 years – gathered excitedly on the grounds of the Australian War Memorial on Monday.

There were plenty of faux crowns, a Welsh dragon, toy kangaroos, a seal-skin sporran and several half-hearted attempts at renditions of God Save the King and Rule, Britannia! to grab the attention of the King and Queen Camilla.

In warm Canberra sunshine, the royals split crowd-pleasing duties. The Queen stuck to the south of the crowd, where plenty of school children mixed with people of much more advanced years to see the first British king to venture to Australia.

To the north, King Charles moved at a more leisurely pace as he stopped to speak with the crowd.

And then he came up against Hephner.

Sporting his own golden crown atop his woolly head, and a golden bow tie to match, Hephner is a self-described living legend.

He is well known around the Canberra region for his charity work and had been allowed onto the War Memorial grounds for a chance for a royal tête-à-tête.

Accompanied by handler Robert Fletcher, the nine-year-old Hephner was not cowed by his meeting with royalty.

Hephner prepares for his royal meeting.Credit: Shane Wright

Instead, he sneezed. It caught the King and the surrounding entourage by surprise.

As Fletcher noted, if Hephner had been a llama – notorious for their temperament – the situation could have been disastrous.

“At least he didn’t spit,” Fletcher noted.

He meant the alpaca, not the King.

There was a little in the way of snot. The King was more surprised than sodden, although there may be a dry-cleaning bill given the royal lapels were in the spray zone.

But the patron of the RSPCA recovered quickly from the brush with the alpaca sneeze, gave the animal a gentle tickle under its chin, and moved on.

Charlesrejoined Camilla, who had been gifted a florist-outlet-sized collection of Australian native flowers from the crowd, before heading to a place better known for its animal noises – the federal parliament.

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